Gruppe Olten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gruppe Olten (Olten Group) was a community of Swiss writers, that met in a so called “Bahnhofbuffet“ (helvetism for a railway station’s restaurant.) located in the Kanton Solothurn (middle of Switzerland). It was founded in the mentioned railway station restaurant and existed from 1970 to 2002.
The group counted 22 famous members of the Swiss writer’s club (Schweizerischer Schriftstellerverein SSV). There were big names like Max Frisch, Adolf Muschg, Peter Bichsel and Friedrich Dürrenmatt, that had left the Swiss writer’s club SSV (that was found merely unprogressive) and became members of the Gruppe Olten
One of the reasons that led to the separation, was the SSV’s president Maurice Zermatten, who made the French translation of the official anti-communist “Civil Defense Book”, that commanded the citizens to observe and distrust each other and that was spread among all Swiss households during the Cold War.
For the founder members of the group, writing was inseparably associated to political engagement. So, they specified the goal to “build a democratic-socialist society” in their byelaw’s articles. That goal was discarded in 2000, causing the leaving of Mariella Mehr. The resting part of the article now is: "It [the Olten Group] supports nationwide and international political attempts that involve the fair distrubition of goods, democratizing economy and public institutions, saving world from military a civil destruction, and the realistation of human rights.
The 12th October 2002 the Olten Group disbanded in Bern, like the Swiss writer’s club SSV (in the meantime renamed into „Schweizerischer Schriftstellerinnen- und Schriftstellerverband“) did, too. At the same time, a new club, named „Author of Switzerland“ (Autorinnen und Autoren der Schweiz), was founded.
