Nicholas from Fluet

Nikolai from Fluet was born into a peasant family. In the years 1440-1444 he participated as an officer in the Old Zurich War . After her graduation, Nikolai married Dorothea Wiss, with whom he gave birth to ten children. He was a wealthy peasant, was a member of the Council of the canton of Schwyz, and served as a judge in his community. In 1467, when his eldest son was already an adult and could support his family, Nikolai, with the consent of his wife, left their house and became a hermit eremite. First, Niklaus made a pilgrimage to the north-west, along the upper reaches of the Rhine , but in the region of Listal he was visited by a holy vision, and the hermit returned to the Ranft gorge, where he settled and led an ascetic lifestyle, only an hour's journey from his native home. Contemporaries depicted Niklaus as thin, emaciated and bearded, with a staff in his hand and Bätti rosary in his hand (from it. Beten - to pray), consisting of a cord with 50 pebbles strung on it.

Brother Klaus, as the local peasants called him, spent his time in long prayers and pious thoughts, primarily about the torment and martyrdom of Christ. Various mystical visions constantly visited him; the first of them, according to Nicklaus, he saw in the womb of his mother, before his birth. Another holy feat of the hermit was his starvation, because in addition to the Eucharist , during the last 19 years of his life, he did not take any food. Nicholas from Fluet quenched his thirst with pure water from a spring. All this was confirmed by a commission established by the local bishop. Many of the children and descendants of “Brother Klaus” later held important posts and became famous figures in Swiss history [for example, his grandson Konrad Scheuiber (1481–1559) was a judge, a large landowner, and an eremite].

Nicklaus of Fluet was also involved in politics, being an adviser to some European rulers of the 15th century. So, he was visited by the special representative of the Duke of Milan, Lodovico Sforza, and had long political talks with Niklaus, after which the Duke thanked the Eremite in writing. He also played an important role in the so-called Stans Agreement , when in 1481 a contention began between the cities of Lucerne , Zurich and Bern on the one hand, and the rural cantons of Uri , Schwyz, Unterwalden , Glarus and Zug on the other. Disagreements went so far that the Confederacy would soon collapse. On the night of December 22, the camp pastor visited Brother Klaus and talked with him for a long time. Having received the necessary advice, the pastor returned to Stans , gathered the warring representatives of cities and communities and presented the decision entrusted to him by Niklaus. After two hours of negotiations, both sides came to an agreement and worked out a new “union agreement”, which was joined by the cantons of Friborg and Solothurn . One of Brother Klaus’s main guiding principles regarding Swiss politics was to stay away from the interests of major powers and not get involved in other people's affairs.

Soon after the death of Brother Klaus, his grave and monastery became a pilgrimage site, one of the most important in Switzerland. In 1669 he was ranked among the blessed , and on May 15, 1947 - saints. Since the day of death of St. Niklaus (March 21) coincided with the celebration of the day of the patron of Europe, St. Benedict of Nursia , Pope Pius XII was determined St. Niklaus on September 25th. Brother Klaus is considered the patron saint of the canton of Obwalden and the whole of Switzerland.

Arthur Honegger dedicated his eponymous oratorio to Nikolai from Fluet, to the text of the “dramatic legend” by Denis de Rougemont . The score was completed in 1939, the stage premiere took place in Neuchâtel in 1941.

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• Manfred Züfle . Ranft, Erzählung und Erzählung der Erzählungen. - Zürich, 1998 .-- ISBN 3-85827-123-3 .