[Culturechat] Brother Niklaus in Sachseln

[Vance Roy]

Below is an article by a freelance writer, Ina Gilles that appeared in 
a Queen Anne, WA? newspaper. She gave me permission to reprint this to 
the chat. For that, I thank her.

Since reading it, my friend, Albert Greutert, has told me about his 
mother coming to him during WW II, when he was about 12 years old and 
telling him about the soldiers at the Rhine seeing this man whose arms 
appeared to hold back the Germans across the river. Albert is a 
Methodist, so folks other than Roman Catholics were impressed by this.

The treaty mentioned is the articles of confederation that began CH as 
it is today. Brudder Klaus was the Ben Franklin of CH. His name was 
Niklaus von Flue, and one can visit his birthplace and the hermitage 
cell in which he live so many years at Flueli Ranft above the Sachseln 
village. The name von Flue is still a prominent one in Sachseln.


>
> St. Niklaus von Flue, The Golden Bear
> A Santa Claus for our Time
>
> By Ina Gilles
>
> What if it is not the child who believes in Santa Claus who is 
> deluded, but
> the adult who doesn’t? I back up this question with the following 
> story.
>
> One day during World War II, a Swiss regiment saw a man standing with 
> his
> arms outstretched on the border between Switzerland and Germany.
> To understand the reverberation of this event (or legend) through 
> Switzerland
> and the world, one needs to go back over 500 years to the Congress of 
> Stans.
>
> Switzerland was in crisis. Conflict about the addition of new, 
> aristocratic
> cantons to the established democratic, rural cantons was threatening 
> to end in
> battle. If this happened, Austria and France could invade and take 
> over the
> vulnerable country. Switzerland would no longer exist.
>
> At the height of the conflict, December 22, 1487, a priest took it upon
> himself to run through the night to the town of Sachseln and consult 
> Niklaus von
> Flue, a man reknown for his wisdom. It must have been a long, dark and 
> cold run.
>
> Brother Niklaus (St. Niklaus after his death) had been a judge. But he 
> got so
> fed up with human iniquity that he left his job, wife and family and 
> built a
> hut in a ravine at the bottom of the family property, where he stayed 
> the rest
> of his life. His wife must have been a bit put out, but at least he 
> was still
> in the backyard.
>
> He went through a number of experiences that Marie-Luise von Franz, 
> who tells
> the story of Brother Niklaus in her book, "Archetypal Dimensions of the
> Psyche", describes as psychological transformations.
>
> They sound rather strange and include items like a staff and a golden
> bearskin; but they resulted in a man to whom people journeyed from far 
> away, bringing
> him their problems. He met each person with down to earth directness, 
> saw
> their good and bad, and dealt with them, according to von Franz, "with 
> a humorous
> wink of the eye and with kindly warmth."
>
> After running all night, the messenger arrived at the hermitage and 
> asked
> Brother Niklaus what to do. Writes von Franz, Brother Niklaus "sent 
> the message
> that the parties should come to an understanding." He asked them to 
> accept the
> new cantons without much expanding their territory, "to keep the peace 
> …and to
> settle the conflict by means of a treaty."
>
> Because of the love and respect the Swiss felt for him, they listened 
> to his
> words. The natural authority of Brother Niklaus gave that simple 
> message power.
>
> From that treaty came Switzerland as we know it. Today the Swiss city,
> Geneva, is often the site and symbol of peace negotiations, such as in 
> recent news
> about the Geneva Accord, a newly proposed peace settlement between 
> Israel and
> Palestine put together not by the governments but by citizens.
>
> On that day in World War II, the Swiss regiment recognized the man on 
> the
> German-Swiss border as Brother Niklaus. They believed his arms were 
> held out to
> protect them from a German invasion.
>
> It may never be known if that figure was a friendly ghost, a man doing 
> his
> daily yoga practice, a mirage, a concocted story, or by some parallel 
> universe
> mystery, Brother Niklaus himself. But Switzerland remained a safe 
> harbor
> throughout the war.
>
> Brother or Saint Niklaus may not be the St. Nick who became our Santa 
> Claus:
> that honor goes to a 4th Century St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. But as a
> peace-bringer, the Swiss St. Niklaus is surely an ideal Santa for our 
> time. Rather
> than the more hopeless contrary, I prefer to believe in this 
> particular Santa
> Claus.
>
> Ina Gilles is a freelance writer living in Queen Anne.
>
>
Vance Roy
gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
http://homepage.mac.com

Americans always get it right, after they've exhausted all the other 
possibilities--Winston Churchill