Dear, honored relatives:
March 2021 will be the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our forefather Heinrich Zschokke. The Zschokke foundation invited my brother Adrian and myself to document the occasion. After reading up on his work and the political climate of his time we decided we were interested.
He is a fascinating character: one of the most widely read authors of the 19th century – Goethe and the Romantics envied his circulation numbers – translated into multiple languages, celebrated in Russia, England, France, Italy and America. He was also deeply involved in the birth of modern Switzerland, at times called an avatar of freedom – and today more or less forgotten.
We would like to change this and invite all descendants worldwide to participate in the making of the documentary, in the name of family solidarity: Come to Aarau in November 2019 in large numbers and help us film a bombastic overture: A meeting of the Zschokke clan as it used to be.
When I was young, in the fifties and sixties, they used to hold Zschokke reunions. All family members were expected to show up. Probably very few remember them with fondness. For the “Big Zschokke days” when all the descendants of Heinrich’s were invited, there were several hundred people present. For the “Small” ones, only the descendants of a particular child of Heinrich’s were invited. Though, even then there were around a hundred people [Heinrich had twelve sons and one daughter and they all, mostly, propagated healthily]. I remember nothing but strangers who read the plaque around my neck [with name and branch] and said, “Ah, branch Achilles?! I’m cousin Oscar, branch Theodor.” Or, “I’m cousin Vroni, branch Emil; my paternal grandmother was your great grandfather’s sister.” Etc. My siblings and I found it all rather embarrassing; our parents pretended to take it seriously but deep down, they probably didn’t, either.
Forgive us for attempting to inspire you for exactly this:
A Zschokke Day 2.0 to be filmed, live [unobtrusive with tiny cameras, no pressure] We promise: no film-narrative, no waiting, no re-takes, no extra lighting, no artifice–except, of course, for the program. It will be varied, amusing and engrossing for an un-knowing public [just like the movies.
First program draft:
A welcome by the president of the Zschokke Foundation [in the open, maybe in front of the Zschokke statue in Aarau], explaining that Z turned 250 and how exciting it is to see so many descendants, followed by an outline of Heinrich’s life.
A short parade to a large tent where aspects of Heinrich’s life are presented: a literary authority using examples by the bestselling author. A historian outlining in broad strokes the convoluted history of Helvetia [around 1798] to the foundation of Switzerland in its modern form [around 1848]. In this way other areas of his life are touched upon, interspersed with Zschokke’ musical compositions.
With any luck, some of the older relatives will still have an S-8 or slides from one of those long-ago reunions which we would use then as well as later in the film.
In addition we offer a program for children, using the wooden puppets by Helmut Zschokke [on exhibit in Schloss Aarau and definitely a must] for a particularly gruesome scene from Zschokke’s play “Abaellino” – a gangster hit which was so successful at the end of the 18th century even Goethe in Weimar had to stage it because the court wanted to see what all the excitement was all about.
Finally, there will be a generous aperitif and – classic Zschokke reunion – a convivial get-together.
All this will be filmed, as mentioned, in documentary fashion. The goal being to entertain the public [present as well as the future audience] as well as to construct a matrix to intersperse re-enacted scenes from Zschokke’s life
In order to achieve optical cohesion, we will probably ask for uniform dress – for instance, black and white. Such details, as well as the complete program, will follow. First off, we would just like to know who would be willing to participate, in order to see if the idea is at all feasible or if we have to completely rethink.
With best wishes and hoping for a positive response,
Matthias and Adrian Zschokke
PS: The Zschokke-Foundation was so kind as to give us the mail addresses of their genealogy section to use for this letter. If anyone no longer wishes to be included, please let us know.
