Brig-Wallis Preparatory School for Boys has a history that may be of interest to some readers.
The school exists largely due to the efforts and vision of one particular man who, for the time being, shall here go nameless (for reasons that the reader will surely understand).
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Order of Osiris had a particularly strong-willed member of German birth who happened to be a childhood friend and ardent admirer of German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte--who later happened to become one of the fathers of German nationalism and Romanticism. As boys, the two were schoolmates at the renowned Schulpforta, an all-male country boarding school near Naumburg in the German state of Upper Lusatia, in the Kingdom of Saxony, a school that still exists today--now known as the Landesschule Pforta.
From as early as 1790, Fichte had been expressing a growing call to German nationalism in his letters and writings. He had been inspired by the recent events in France which had culminated in the great French Revolution. Over the next decade, Fichte expressed openly his admiration for the principles of freedom and self-determinism behind the Revolution. However, in 1804 he began to shift away from his earlier pro-French stance as he watched the way in which the French armies treated their conquered peoples. Then, the coup do grâce came in October of 1806 when Fichte had been forced to watch helplessly as the Corsican upstart, Napoleon Bonaparte, disgraced and shamed his nation and town in the battle of Jena--the very Saxonian intellectual center in which Fichte had been living as a highly respected university professor. After the disgrace of the defeat at Jena, Fichte began a long series of letters, lectures, and publicized opinion papers on German pride and nationalism. He was calling for educational reform as the key to nation-building; he believed that education would provide the societal impetus for a rise in national pride, commitment, and organization among the population as a whole, top to bottom.
Though not as keen for Fichte's nationalism or anti-Semitism, this Order member was apparently greatly moved by Fichte's call for a state-wide unifying and organizational system of education. In Fichte's case, this call was published in a heart-felt desire to improve the German population's chances to prove its ascendant nature. Still, it is probable that Fichte's ideas lit a fire in his friend's bonnet, for it was this Order member's voice and leadership that instigated the discussions and very quick action of buying property with the expressed purpose of establishing there an educational training center for future members of an expanded Order membership. It must here be also deduced that this particular Order member's own personal boyhood boarding school experience played heavily into the shaping of Brig-Wallis, both physically and curricularly, as many of the school's long-established patterns and traditions strongly parallel those of the Schulpforta.
The property on the outskirts of Brig-Glis that became the site of Brig-Wallis Preparatory School for Boys, in the location on which it stands, which is just south of Polenstrasse (which runs west off of the Simplon Pass Road [Highway 9]) just above Glis, was in the possession of Order subsidiary holding companies just after Christmas in 1806. While many sites and nation locations were considered for the prospective school, Switzerland was favored for it's status as a recently re-formed "confederacy" and for its centrality to all things Italian, French, German, and Austro-Hungarian. Despite its recent civil war and the fact that it had become an object of desire to the major players in the ongoing conflicts within the Order-funded Napoleonic wars, Switzerland had well established its long-standing tradition and proven ability to remain detached from international conflicts. The final decision to use Brig-Glis as the location for the school site was based upon the Order's desire for safety and security while still being accessible (in this case, to the Order's connections in Northern Italy, Savoy, Lyons, Berne, and the Geneva-Lausanne-Lac Leman area). Despite the seasonal traffic allowed by the Simplon Pass, Valais was neither heavily populated nor prominent as a tourist/touring destination at this time. The Brig-Glis merchant family that owned the rectangular piece of land facing Polenstrasse had fallen upon hard times and were more than happy to be persuaded to let go of their real estate holdings--which they did, for a generous amount of gold, and with the provision that they would move to a different town. (They resettled in Lugano).
In 1806, the derelict and long-abandoned St. Ignatius church and priory at the east end of the present Brig-Wallis campus was still officially owned by the Society of Jesus (more commonly known as the Jesuits). The Society, however, had recently fallen out-of-favor, both publicly and officially. In some countries and regions of the world, Jesuits were being openly persecuted, while Pope Clement XIV had succumbed to public pressure by issuing a papal brief in 1773 which announced the Church's official "suppression" of the order. Though the distant canton of Luzern was offering clemency and "business as usual" treatment for the Society, the Jesuits seemed ill-disposed to making any effort to try to re-establish a foothold in Brig or within the Sion-based Valais diocese. Instead, they were quite happy to be parted with their vacant and all-but-forgotten property on Polenstrasse--especially in light of the unexpectedly large sum of silver Swiss francs they were offered for said property. Though the papal "suppression" was lifted in 1814, the Society decided to concentrate its resources outside of Switzerland.
The establishment of a "home" and "training center" for the Order also served to fulfill another dream that Order members had long held: the creation of a "home base" or center of operations for the Grand Vizier or Grand Master of the Order of Osiris. With the setting of the school and it's inherent position of headmaster came the most likely and fitting opportunity the Order had yet seen. It was, in fact, rather a match made in heaven as at the school, the members of the Order would and could always know where to find their leader. Plus, this would ensure that the boys being "educated" for future participation in the functions of the Order would be overseen by the most trusted and esteemed representative of their sort.
The interested reader can look forward to future posts from this blogsite that will undertake the presentation of the historical backgrounds to various physical features of Brig-Wallis.
The school exists largely due to the efforts and vision of one particular man who, for the time being, shall here go nameless (for reasons that the reader will surely understand).
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Order of Osiris had a particularly strong-willed member of German birth who happened to be a childhood friend and ardent admirer of German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte--who later happened to become one of the fathers of German nationalism and Romanticism. As boys, the two were schoolmates at the renowned Schulpforta, an all-male country boarding school near Naumburg in the German state of Upper Lusatia, in the Kingdom of Saxony, a school that still exists today--now known as the Landesschule Pforta.
From as early as 1790, Fichte had been expressing a growing call to German nationalism in his letters and writings. He had been inspired by the recent events in France which had culminated in the great French Revolution. Over the next decade, Fichte expressed openly his admiration for the principles of freedom and self-determinism behind the Revolution. However, in 1804 he began to shift away from his earlier pro-French stance as he watched the way in which the French armies treated their conquered peoples. Then, the coup do grâce came in October of 1806 when Fichte had been forced to watch helplessly as the Corsican upstart, Napoleon Bonaparte, disgraced and shamed his nation and town in the battle of Jena--the very Saxonian intellectual center in which Fichte had been living as a highly respected university professor. After the disgrace of the defeat at Jena, Fichte began a long series of letters, lectures, and publicized opinion papers on German pride and nationalism. He was calling for educational reform as the key to nation-building; he believed that education would provide the societal impetus for a rise in national pride, commitment, and organization among the population as a whole, top to bottom.
Though not as keen for Fichte's nationalism or anti-Semitism, this Order member was apparently greatly moved by Fichte's call for a state-wide unifying and organizational system of education. In Fichte's case, this call was published in a heart-felt desire to improve the German population's chances to prove its ascendant nature. Still, it is probable that Fichte's ideas lit a fire in his friend's bonnet, for it was this Order member's voice and leadership that instigated the discussions and very quick action of buying property with the expressed purpose of establishing there an educational training center for future members of an expanded Order membership. It must here be also deduced that this particular Order member's own personal boyhood boarding school experience played heavily into the shaping of Brig-Wallis, both physically and curricularly, as many of the school's long-established patterns and traditions strongly parallel those of the Schulpforta.
The property on the outskirts of Brig-Glis that became the site of Brig-Wallis Preparatory School for Boys, in the location on which it stands, which is just south of Polenstrasse (which runs west off of the Simplon Pass Road [Highway 9]) just above Glis, was in the possession of Order subsidiary holding companies just after Christmas in 1806. While many sites and nation locations were considered for the prospective school, Switzerland was favored for it's status as a recently re-formed "confederacy" and for its centrality to all things Italian, French, German, and Austro-Hungarian. Despite its recent civil war and the fact that it had become an object of desire to the major players in the ongoing conflicts within the Order-funded Napoleonic wars, Switzerland had well established its long-standing tradition and proven ability to remain detached from international conflicts. The final decision to use Brig-Glis as the location for the school site was based upon the Order's desire for safety and security while still being accessible (in this case, to the Order's connections in Northern Italy, Savoy, Lyons, Berne, and the Geneva-Lausanne-Lac Leman area). Despite the seasonal traffic allowed by the Simplon Pass, Valais was neither heavily populated nor prominent as a tourist/touring destination at this time. The Brig-Glis merchant family that owned the rectangular piece of land facing Polenstrasse had fallen upon hard times and were more than happy to be persuaded to let go of their real estate holdings--which they did, for a generous amount of gold, and with the provision that they would move to a different town. (They resettled in Lugano).
In 1806, the derelict and long-abandoned St. Ignatius church and priory at the east end of the present Brig-Wallis campus was still officially owned by the Society of Jesus (more commonly known as the Jesuits). The Society, however, had recently fallen out-of-favor, both publicly and officially. In some countries and regions of the world, Jesuits were being openly persecuted, while Pope Clement XIV had succumbed to public pressure by issuing a papal brief in 1773 which announced the Church's official "suppression" of the order. Though the distant canton of Luzern was offering clemency and "business as usual" treatment for the Society, the Jesuits seemed ill-disposed to making any effort to try to re-establish a foothold in Brig or within the Sion-based Valais diocese. Instead, they were quite happy to be parted with their vacant and all-but-forgotten property on Polenstrasse--especially in light of the unexpectedly large sum of silver Swiss francs they were offered for said property. Though the papal "suppression" was lifted in 1814, the Society decided to concentrate its resources outside of Switzerland.
The establishment of a "home" and "training center" for the Order also served to fulfill another dream that Order members had long held: the creation of a "home base" or center of operations for the Grand Vizier or Grand Master of the Order of Osiris. With the setting of the school and it's inherent position of headmaster came the most likely and fitting opportunity the Order had yet seen. It was, in fact, rather a match made in heaven as at the school, the members of the Order would and could always know where to find their leader. Plus, this would ensure that the boys being "educated" for future participation in the functions of the Order would be overseen by the most trusted and esteemed representative of their sort.
The interested reader can look forward to future posts from this blogsite that will undertake the presentation of the historical backgrounds to various physical features of Brig-Wallis.
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