Albert Schweitzer - Gunsbach
Albert
Schweitzer was born on January 14, 1875 in Kaysersberg. As he was six months
old, his parents moved to Gunsbach, a village in the Munster valley, where his
father Louis, served the protestant parish for 50 years.
He spent his childhood at Gunsbach where he attended the village school for four
years. He was a sensitive boy, and from a very early age the compassion and
humanitarianism for which he would one day become famous showed itself. He was
deeply troubled by the fact that some of the children in Gunsbach were much
poorer than he was. He said himself that it was because he had attended the
village school that he had been protected against the pride of those who never
had any contact with "little people".
The troubles caused to him by his school friends who called him
"middle-class boy" or "pastor son" helped him during all his
life to approach the fellow man without any prejudice.
The good relationship with the inhabitants, gave him the possibility to learn
about the local crafts, tree cultivation, horticulture...
At Gunsbach, he always felt at home as nowhere else, and in the cemetery he
could meditate at his parent's graves.
The Albert Schweitzer House
It
was the Goethe-Prize, awarded to him in 1928 by the town of Frankfurt (Germany),
that enabled him to obtain a plot of ground on which he built "his own
house" according to his carefully worked out plans. It's aim was to
have a home in that village which he knew for more than 50 years and to have a
haven of peace which was necessary in his stormy life, when he came back from
Africa or somewhere else.
Another function of the house was to serve as "General
headquarters" when he was in Africa or elsewhere. It was the port of
call that ensured the communication between Lambaréné and the friends of the
work in Europe or in the rest of the world. His wife Hélène and Mrs Martin
knew how to make a centre of intense activity of that house. Both made their
contribution to the success of his work.
The Museum
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday from 9 to 11.30 am and from 14 to 16.30 pm.
In July and August also on Sundays
(closed from Good Friday to Easter and from Christmas to New Year)
Albert
Schweitzer's daughter, Rhena, donated her father's house to the International
Association. From that time it was possible to transform a part of the house
into a museum.
Formerly, the visitors where especially people who knew well "the Jungle
Doctor", while today an increasing number of young people are attracted by
Albert Schweitzer's life and thoughts. And everything in the house reminds him
lively.
On the right of the entry is Dr. Schweitzer's study and bedroom, which is kept
exactly as he left it the last time he was in Gunsbach in 1959. The only thing,
which has been added, is his cradle. The family offered it to the museum after
his death.
In the corner, on the table is the life-sized reproduction of the head of an
African, formally part of the monument dedicated to Admiral Bruat in Colmar,
surrounded by the four continents made by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. This
statue made a deep impression on the young boy. He said, "His face, with
its sad, thoughtful expression, spoke to me of the misery of the Dark Continent".
Dr. Schweitzer himself put up the organ photos on the staircase. They are
instruments he had played on all over Europe. It was his way to raise money for
his hospital in Lambarene.
Over the door of his bedroom is a painting of a Japanese
painter "Veneration Vitae" which means, "Reverence for
Life". This was the principle, on which his whole philosophy was based. He
wrote: “The greatest good is to preserve life, to promote life to raise
life to the highest value which it is capable of. The greatest evil is to
destroy life, to injure life, to repress life which is capable of
development"
All this he put into practise at Lambaréné. And he tried to
make men aware of their responsibilities towards all life. The
Nobel-Peace-Prize, awarded to him in 1953 for the year 1952 is also shown.
The family tree shows how Albert Schweitzer
and the existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre were second cousins.
Several photographs representing the old hospital and the new one show us that
both, men and animals received treatments and how Lambaréné is still necessary
today.
In the former living room is Schweitzer's piano fitted with organ pedals on
which he played for 48 years in Lambaréné. It was a gift from the Paris Bach
Society. He received it 1912, as a reward and in gratitude for the many years
during which he acted as organist to the Bach Society. It was a precious
instrument to him as it was specially built for the tropics. It is made of
hardwood lined with zinc and everything is screwed instead of glued, as the
humidity in Lambarene is 100%. With the pedals he could practise as on a real
organ.
On the walls are photographs of his parents and
friends, concert programmes, an autograph of Franz Liszt offered to Albert
Schweitzer by the town of Paris in 1949, paintings and silhouettes made by a
fellow-prisoner at St. Rémy de Provence in 1917.
In the showcases are several pieces of souvenirs.
Then, there is the little folding-table on which he wrote letters and scripts
for his books during the travels between Europe and Africa; and on which he also
practised piano when he had no instrument at his disposal.
Mrs Sonja Poteau-Muller, a former nurse at the hospital in Lambaréné with
Dr. Schweitzer, has to manage today the house. She has, with her husband and
staff help, to fulfil several tasks. She has to receive the visitors to the
museum, to classify the archives and the library, and to maintain correspondence
with people all over the world. Than, she has to receive researches, organise
meetings and conferences with people who are interested in Schweitzer's
thoughts.
The Archives
After Albert Schweitzer's death in 1965, his former
secretary, Ali Silver, began in 1967, to gather and to order his spiritual
inheritance.
Over 10.000 letters written by Dr. Schweitzer and approximately 70.000 sent to
him, his hand-written books and sermons manuscripts, already published or not,
are classified in the archives. The most important of those archive documents
are reproduced on microfilms.
Extracts of newspapers, slides, films, tape recordings, videocassettes, and
plates are also collected. They permit to keep lively speeches, pieces of music
interpreted by A. Schweitzer, and to have a general idea of Albert Schweitzer's
life, work and thoughts.
Students, professors, lecturers' come to Gunsbach for researches working on
Albert Schweitzer.
Many doctorate-thesis have been written about Schweitzer's life during the last
few years.
As a gesture of gratitude for all the facilities granted to him during several
years of research, Albert Schweitzer offered 2.000 volumes to Strasbourg
University. But still thousands of books are on the shelves of the library in
Gunsbach. They are not only interesting by the fact to see what he read but even
more by his annotations which show his opinions about them. It is the same for
the newspapers, which are kept in.
The
former Vicarage
This house in which Albert Schweitzer came and went between
1890 and 1925, which played an important part in his life has been transformed
into a meeting centre for seminars. People can also come to Gunsbach and have
there a nice holiday.
The African Museum
Emma Haussknecht, who had worked for a long time with Dr.
Schweitzer at Lambaréné, brought from her rounds through the villages around
Lambaréné a great and valuable African collection.
This collection is to be seen
in the first floor of the town hall, in the former classroom in which Albert
Schweitzer was pupil for four years. Voluntaries villagers from Gunsbach keep
this exhibition during the summer holiday.
The Albert Schweitzer Footpath
The Albert Schweitzer footpath, for promenade and musing over
Albert Schweitzer's thought, in 16 text board, through the Gunsbach village.
The total distance is, approximately 920 meters (1000 yards).
Duration of the promenade 55 minutes,
depending on, if you read or not the text board. The beginning is in front of
the former Gunsbach Presbytery, 3 rue du Dr Albert Schweitzer. The end is, at
the House Museum 8 rue de Munster.
The
Monument
Five minutes
above the road from Gunsbach to Munster, the Albert Schweitzer monument is to be
found. It was erected 1969, on the rock with respect to Schweitzer's wish. The
monument was sculptured out of Alsatian sandstone by the sculptor Fritz Behn, a
disciple of Rodin. In 1958 Albert Schweitzer wrote: "It is there I
should like to remain in stone, so that my friends could pay me a visit, devote
a thought to me, and could listen to the murmur of the river, the music that
accompanied the flux of my thoughts. It is on this rock that civilisation and
ethics was born and the Jesus in his epoch emerged to me. The I feel completely
at home."
The church of Gunsbach and the organ
Albert Schweitzer loved his village church, which inspired
him to toleration. There he found in his youth, a deep satisfaction in the way
in which separate religions communities could live so close together and yet so
peacefully. Later he wrote: "When I was still only a child I felt it to
be a beautiful thing that in our village Catholics and Protestants worshipped in
the same building".
His father's offices in that church also opened him the way for the mission
in French Equatorial Africa.
From the moment Albert Schweitzer could reach the organ pedals, as he was only 8
years old, he first sat in for the organist at his father's Gunsbach church.
As to the organ of that church, the bombardments of 1914-1918
caused serious damage to the instrument, Albert Schweitzer appealed to his
friends for funds, and gathered the required amount to install in 1931, an organ
with pneumatic traction. It is a masterpiece of one of the pioneers of organ
building of the 20th century. Another disaster occurred during World War Il.
When a shell hit the bell-tower and the organ was damaged. It was repaired
summarily at first, and it was only in 1960 that Albert Schweitzer could realise
a project he had cherished for years.
The organ was completely renovated, after Schweitzer's
detailed design, by the master organ builder Alfred Kern of Strasbourg. This was
made possible by Schweitzer's generosity, and the help given by his friends,
from far and near who celebrated his 85th birthday by contributing to the
renovation. The inauguration was in December 1961. Alas, the Doctor never
returned to Gunsbach again, and could not hear what he called "his last
work".
In 1993, Alfred Kern's son renovated it again and a
simultaneum office was given on this occasion.
The commemorative concerts
Since 1971, a commemorative concert is given, each year the
first Sunday of September, in commemoration of Albert Schweitzer's death.
Countless organists from many countries come here to enjoy the wonderful nuances
of sound produced by this instrument.
Albert
Schweitzer's spiritual Work at Gunsbach
Today, Gunsbach is the centre of the radiation of Schweitzer
thoughts and work. Several other Albert Schweitzer Fellowships exist all around
the world and closely collaborate with Gunsbach. About 5000 persons visit each
year the Albert Schweitzer Museum. They want to extent their knowledge's and to
discover Albert Schweitzer's philosophy and also the man who he was. Many people
come also to take part on different seminaries, which are organised at Gunsbach.
The most important today is to actualise Albert Schweitzer's thoughts
To be able to fulfil the
tasks in the Albert Schweitzer House, we would be deeply grateful to every one
for even the smallest gift.
Maison Albert Schweitzer, F-68140 Gunsbach, Telephone +33 3 89 77
31 42
Bank CIAL, F-68140 Munster account 424 02 112324
Germany : Volksbank Dreiländereck, Weil am Rhein, Konto 797057, BLZ: 683 900 00
Suisse : Stiftung Albert-Schweitzer-Zentrum Günsbach, UBS, Bern, PC
30-188-0, account n° 96-232,739.0 395
Sonja Poteau-Müller,
Director de la Maison Albert Schweitzer
© Association Internationale de l'Oeuvre du Docteur
Albert Schweitzer de Lambaréné (AISL)
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last modification: 22.5.2001