F: Journalism

Gotthelf`s Bauern-Spiegel, as well as his subsequent novel, Leiden und Freuden eines Schulmeisters, written in the years 1836 to 1838, already mirror all the social and political issues for which Bitzius eagerly sought solutions. Beginning with his time as a vicar, this focal point continued throughout his work. He expressed his opinion in newspaper articles, in school-periodicals and association journals, in speeches and contributions toward the Bernese department of education. The more his reputation as a narrator-novelist was spreading, the more persistently he pursued an improved education system; but at the same there grew public fear and respect toward his satirical voice in the press. More than 100 newspaper contributions by Bitzius are traceable until the year 1852.