Travel as Projection of Civic Virtue, Political Power and National Identity: Johann Fischart's The Fortunate Ship from Zurich (1577)

Abstract

In 1577, Johann Fischart published a small epic poem entitled Das Glückhafft Schiff von Zürich (The fortunate ship from Zurich), which describes a one-day river journey by 54 citizens of Zurich to Fischart's native Strasbourg in order to attend a rifle competition and to celebrate the military alliance between the cities. This essay interprets Fischart's travel text as a geographical narrative of national identity, and particularly of Swiss identity, focusing on core values of republican self-understanding, the freedom of the citizenry, and civic-mindedness. In line with chorographic tradition, the text describes the Swiss Confederation as a fluvial spatial system which serves as an allegory for its social organisation. The mystical headwaters of the Swiss rivers in the Alps stand at the core of the Swiss founding myth and serve as a source of power which is projected downriver all the way to Strasbourg, as allegorically signified by the river journey. Control of the headwaters allows the Swiss not only to project military and economic might, but also to project singular moral qualities: industriousness, fearlessness and discipline. These core values make the Swiss cities an ideal treaty partner for Fischart's Protestant city under pressure from both political and confessional opponents.