His Life
Adolf Muschg studied German studies, English studies and philosophy at the universities of Zürich and Cambridge and earned his doctoral degree with a work about Ernst Barlach.
Between 1959 and 1962 he worked as a teacher in Zürich. Different engagements as a teacher followed in Germany (Göttingen), Japan and the U.S.. From 1970 to 1999 Muschg was professor of German language and literature at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich.
He wrote the foreword to Fritz Zorn’s controversial memoirs Mars. The book pointed out the supposedly “cancer-causing” lifestyle of Zurich’s wealthy gold coast and provoked a scandal in Switzerland; its author died of cancer before its release. Muschg was also provocative with works like Wenn Auschwitz in der Schweiz liegt ("If Auschwitz were in Switzerland"). His detractors suggest that Muschg was writing without direct experience. A theme of his newer works is often love in old age.
Since 1976 he has been a member of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin; he is also a member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz and the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung, Darmstadt. In 2003 he was elected president of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin. He left the presidency in December 2005 because of disagreements with the Academy's senate about public relations.
Adolf Muschg lives in Männedorf near Zürich. His estate is archived in the Swiss Literary Archives in Bern.
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