Walter Muschg

Walter Muschg (1898–1965) was a Swiss literary scholar and writer. He studied German literature in Zurich and Berlin and became professor of German literary history at the University of Basel in 1936. As a scholar, he was known for unconventional and sometimes polemical views. He was an early advocate of applying Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis to literary studies and helped renew interest in the work of Jeremias Gotthelf. After 1945, he also supported the rediscovery of authors such as Alfred Döblin and Hans Henny Jahnn. Muschg was a member of the Swiss National Council and opposed Switzerland’s restrictive asylum policy during the Second World War. His students included Max Frisch and Urs Widmer.