The Züriputsch of 6 September 1839 was a
putsch of the rural conservative population against the liberal rule of the city of
Zürich on the eve of the formation of the
Swiss federal state. The reason for the putsch was the appointment of the controversial German theologian
David Strauss to the theological faculty of the University of Zürich by the liberal government. The rural population saw the old religious order in danger.
Events
Led by
Bernhard Hirzel, pastor of
Pfäffikon, several thousand putschists stormed the city from the west, and fought the cantonal troops in the alleys between
Paradeplatz and
Fraumünster. Botanist and councillor
Johannes Jacob Hegetschweiler was shot in the head as he was acting as a mediator between the city's council and the insurgents. He died three days later.[1][2][3]
The
Swiss German term putsch, originally referring to any sort of hit, stroke or collision, entered the German language as a political term, popularized by
Gottfried Keller. The word gained further use during the
First World War, as the equivalent of the English "push," to mean "going over the top" from a trench into no man's land. The derived verb aufputschen remains common in
Standard German for "to incite", "to excite", in political or in
doping contexts.[4][5][6]
^Mörgeli C[in German] (1992). "[Clarification of a political assassination in 1839: statesman Johannes Hegetschweiler shot during civil unrest in Zurich]". Schweizerische Rundschau für Medizin Praxis (in German). 81 (22): 718–23.
PMID1604083.