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Swiss journalist and writer (1866–1934) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Otto Friedrich Rudolf von Tavel (21 December 1866 – 18 October 1934 in Bern) was a Swiss journalist and writer. Many of his novels were written in Bernese rather than Standard German, and he is one of the best-known authors in that language.
Rudolf von Tavel was the youngest of six children of an old Bernese patrician family. He spent his youth in conservative circles of the city. He studied jurisprudence and cameralism in Lausanne, Leipzig, Berlin, and received his doctorate in Heidelberg in 1891. He then worked for the Berner Tagblatt (a forerunner of the Berner Zeitung) until 1916, and from 1896 to 1905 served as director of the Swiss Mobiliar insurance company. On 10 May 1894 he married Adele Stettler (1874-1966); the marriage was childless.
In the Swiss army, von Tavel obtained the rank of battalion commander. During the First World War he worked closely with Hermann Hesse in the care of prisoners of war. From 1902 to 1912 he was a member of the Bern city council (Stadtrat) for the Conservative-Democratic Party. He was a member of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches and several non-profit organizations.
From 1920 he lived as a freelance writer on his estate on the outskirts of Bern. He died of a stroke in 1934. His grave is in the Schosshalden cemetery. In 2003, the Rudolf von Tavel Foundation was established in Bern.
Von Tavel wrote predominantly in Bernese German, a dialect of the Alemannic language. His novels are still among the most widely read works in Swiss German. His collection is maintained in the Burgerbibliothek of Bern.
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