Hermann Alfred Walser
* 11. December 1870, † 1. March 1919
Professor of geography
Worked initially as a secondary and grammar school teacher, graduated in 1896, became a private lecturer in 1901 and full professor of anthropogeography at the University of Bern in 1911. He publishes specialised articles and travelogues in the Sonntagsblatt des Bund during the period in which Robert Walser's first literary texts appear there. Addressing a wider audience were his Landeskunde der Schweiz (1908, 1926) and the book Die Schweiz. Ein Begleitwort zur eidgenössischen Schulwandkarte (1902, 1914). The second eldest brother, known as “ Hermi”, assumed financial responsibility for the family early on; little is known about his relationship with Robert Walser. He dies by suicide.
Literary traces in Geschwister Tanner, (Klaus Tanner) (1907); “Felix”-Szenen (Arnold), (written 1925).
From: Robert Walser-Handbuch, ed. by Lucas Marco Gisi, 2015, p. 16
More about Hermann Walser in the publication: Hermann Walser, Geograf. Ed. by Reto Sorg and Jeannine Wintzer. Bern: Robert Walser-Zentrum 2022 (Schriften des Robert Walser-Zentrums; 6)