Johann Rudolf Tschiffeli (16 December 1716 - 15 January 1780) was a Swiss agronomist who founded the Economic Society of Berne in 1758. He was a wealthy merchant, economist and lawyer.
Johann Rudolph Tschiffeli was born in Bern in 1716, in a patrician family. He spent much of his youth in Rheineck. His father, also named Johann Rudolpf Tschiffeli (1688 - 1747), was at first the General Secretary of Canton of St. Gallen and from 1734 on the Landvogt of Bern, when the family moved to Wangen an der Aare. After the death of his parents, Tschiffeli took over the care of his four younger siblings, and of his own household. In 1755 he became clerk at the superior marriage court, which position meant a steady income. He occupied this post until his death.
In 1758, Tschiffeli formed the Economic Society ("Ökonomischen Gesellschaft"), which was influential beyond the Swiss borders. Albrecht von Haller was at one time the secretary and president of it, and in its long history it had contact with people like Carl Linnaeus, Voltaire, Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau, Jean-Marie Roland, vicomte de la Platière, Gaetano Filangieri, and Arthur Young. [1] Members included Niklaus Emanuel Tscharner and Vincenz Bernhard Tscharner. Activities decreased around 1800, but the society was restarted in 1838 and still exists in 2011. [2]
Tschiffeli was also an agricultural reformer, and he owned two farms, one at Kirchberg and one at Moosseedorf. He trained educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in agriculture in 1767 and 1768. [3] Tschiffeli was a member of the Helvetic Society.
Johannes von Müller was a Swiss historian.
Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg was a Swiss educationalist and agronomist.
The Fruitbearing Society was a German literary society founded in 1617 in Weimar by German scholars and nobility. Its aim was to standardize vernacular German and promote it as both a scholarly and literary language, after the pattern of the Accademia della Crusca in Florence and similar groups already thriving in Italy, followed in later years also in France (1635) and Britain.
Johann Rudolf Wolf was a Swiss astronomer and mathematician best known for his research on sunspots.
Englisberg is a village in the district of Seftigen in Canton Bern, Switzerland. On January 1, 2004, the independent municipality merged with Zimmerwald to form the new municipality of Wald BE. Situated on the Längenberg, above the valley of the Aare river, it combines the villages of Englisberg and Kühlewil. Englisberg is first documented in 1166 [Endlisperc]. It is believed that Englisberg was created out of the much older village of Kühlewil [Cullenwil, Cullenwilare - originally of Celtic origin] the latter of which having since attained the status of a hamlet of the former. In the 14th century a castle is documented in Englisberg, owned by the family of the same name. It was abandoned by the following 15th century and quickly fell into disrepair and disintegration. The feudal rights over Englisberg were acquired by the von Erlach family of Bern in 1433 and passed in 1542 to the Baumgartner family of the same place. After 1570, these feudal rights were sold to local farming families Guggisberg and Zimmermann which over the course of several generations were split into 70 shares. In the 18th century, these rights were successively purchased by the aristocratic von Graffenried and von Tscharner families seated at the Lohn estate in Kehrsatz only to lose it all when Switzerland was invaded by the French in 1798 that resulted in the abolishment of the ancient order. Englisberg belonged until 1798 to the high court district of Seftigen. Ecclesiastically Englisberg was part of the evangelical reformed parish church of neighboring Belp till 1699 and thereafter was integrated into the newly created parish of Zimmerwald.
Karl Ludwig von Haller was a Swiss jurist, statesman and political philosopher. He was the author of Restauration der Staatswissenschaft, a book which gave its namesake to the Restoration period after the Congress of Vienna, and which Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel strongly criticized in §258 of Elements of the Philosophy of Right.
The Lohn Estate is a manor and estate located in Kehrsatz, canton of Bern, Switzerland. It serves as the official estate of the Swiss Federal Council. From 1942 to 1994, the Lohn Estate accommodated the official guests of the Swiss Confederation, which have included a number of heads of States and royalty. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
Fortunato Bartolomeo de Felice, 2nd Comte de Panzutti, also known as Fortuné-Barthélemy de Félice and Francesco Placido Bartolomeo De Felice, was an Italian nobleman, a famed author, philosopher, scientist, and is said to have been one of the most important publishers of the 18th century. He is considered a pioneer of education in Switzerland, and a formative contributor to the European Enlightenment.
Johann Gaudenz Gubert Graf von Salis-Seewis was a Swiss poet, writer, politician and librettist.
Herman Rudolf Günsberg (1827–1879) was a chemist originating in Pidkamin, near Brody who distinguished himself by his fostering of the economic development of Galicia.
The Erlach family was a Bernese patrician family. They first became citizens of Bern around 1300. During the 17th and 18th centuries they were one of the leading families in Bern. For centuries the family served as senior military commanders in both Bern and in foreign armies. They were mayors of Bern and ruled over many other towns and cities in western Switzerland. Several family members received the upper nobility title "Reichsgraf".
Johann Rudolf Huber was an eminent Swiss portrait artist. Among his famous subjects were Charles III William, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor and Albrecht von Haller.
Jakob Emanuel Handmann was a Swiss painter who specialised in portrait painting. He was a contemporary of the Swiss painters Anton Graff, Jean Preudhomme, Angelica Kauffman, Johann Jakob Schalch, Johann Caspar Füssli and his son Johann Heinrich Füssli.
Franz Rudolf Frisching (1733–1807) was a Bernese patrician, officer, politician and industrialist.
The Helvetische Gesellschaft / Société Helvétique, or Helvetic Society as it is known in English, was a patriotic society and the first Swiss reform society. It was founded by Swiss philosopher Isaak Iselin, poet Solomon Gessner and some 20 others on 15 May 1762, and was dissolved with the formation of the Helvetic Republic in 1798. It was revived again from 1819 on until 1849. The latter should not be confused with the contemporary Helvetic Society for the Natural Sciences, established in 1815.
Johann Heinrich Lips was a Swiss copper engraver; mostly of portraits.
The Encyclopedia of Yverdon is an encyclopedia compiled by Fortunato Bartolomeo de Félice and published in 58 volumes from 1770 through 1780 in Yverdon-les-Baines, Switzerland. The Encyclopedia of Yverdon is not as culturally French nor as philosophically skeptical of religion as the work it is based upon, the Encyclopédie of Diderot and d'Alembert. Due to these differences, the Encyclopedia of Yverdon was known as the Protestant encyclopedia and was widely distributed across Northern Europe.
Samuel Engel was a Swiss librarian, civil servant, economist and agronomist working in Bern who introduced innovations in several fields. He was convinced of the existence of a Northeast Passage and published several influential books about the Arctic.