Zwyssig, Alberich 11/17/1808 - 11/18/1854

Swiss Cistercian monk and composer. Born in Bauen, he was a student and choirboy from 1821 to 1841 and later joined a monastery in Wettingen. He served as a priest, teacher and secretary to the abbot and was the musical director. The monastery was dissolved by the governing council of the canton of Aargau (1841). The monks were left without a monastery for some time. After the Sonderbund War, Zwyssig was a guest of the Wurmsbach monastery. He was in charge of the newly founded music school there and wrote many spiritual and secular compositions. In 1854 the monks finally found a new home in the secularized Benedictine monastery in Mehrerau, which they converted into a Cistercian monastery. Zwyssig served as cantor but died after just a few months in office. He composed the Swiss national anthem.