A long corridor in the basement of a school. It is dark. In an air raid shelter, a tall, gaunt man is leaning over a book. He lives here, sleeps on a camp bed and often eats a millet dish with spinach and raw egg. He is only allowed out into the fresh air when school is not in session, otherwise he could irritate pupils.
What sounds like the beginning of a spooky horror film was reality for 27 years at the Solothurn Cantonal School. Wilhelm Kaiser, known as the edgy spirit, lived there, surrounded by his writings. How did this come about? First, a search for clues in the basement.
In the footsteps of the edgy spirit
Wilhelm Kaiser lived in the dark, windowless air raid shelter from 1955 to 1983. He was a scientist who wanted to stay close to his research work throughout his life and preferred the basement to a real apartment.
“Where my works are – I can be there too. And where I am – there is my work,” is what he probably said. This was written by Rolf Weber, who spent years studying the person and researcher Wilhelm Kaiser. It is a story that is still told today in the corridors of the Solothurn Cantonal School, about the Kantigegeist.
Kaiser stimulates the imagination
“When I was in high school in 1988, there was a door that was closed and no one had a key to it,” remembers Jan Schneider, who now teaches at the cantonal school. “One hot day, I was in the basement with my students to cool off. That’s when I got the idea to research the history of the Kantige spirit.” And so a book about Wilhelm Kaiser was born as a class project.
View into the «apartment»
From myths and legends surrounding Wilhelm Kaiser to the proven facts: He was born on February 23, 1895. After training as a primary school teacher, he studied mathematics, physics, chemistry and earned a doctorate in astronomy. However, he did not just focus on classical research after that, but was fascinated by anthroposophy, the teachings of Rudolf Steiner.
He was too scientific for the anthroposophists.
After a while, however, he became a problem in these circles because he dared to correct Rudolf Steiner, writes Rolf Weber. For the anthroposophists, this was an impertinence. Due to his closeness to anthroposophy, Kaiser was not accepted as a researcher in science either.
“He was too scientific for the anthroposophists and too anthroposophical for science,” says Rolf Weber. “That’s probably why he fell between a rock and a hard place,” agrees teacher Jan Schneider. Wilhelm Kaiser had no regular income. In 1955 he had to vacate his previous apartment because the building was being converted into the central library of the canton of Solothurn.
Looking for a place to stay
That’s why the education department offered him rooms in the basement of the cantonal school. Actually as a storage space for his research work and not as a place to live. He was repeatedly told that he could not live there.
In fact, Kaiser had other rooms and apartments, but sooner or later he disturbed the other tenants with his nightly work. Over time, he was tolerated in the cantonal school as a quirky original. Instead of investing in accommodation, he preferred to invest the little money he had in publishing and printing his works, writes Rolf Weber.
View into a work
Almost unbelievable, but documented, is the fact that he was instructed by the school administration to stay in the basement during the day. He was explicitly forbidden to show himself in the school corridors during class time.
Lots of work, little response
Back to the present: The students at the technical college also looked into the complex research of Wilhelm Kaiser. Teacher Jan Schneider noticed that he followed a different, outdated approach than other astronomers and considered the earth to be the center of the universe. Rolf Weber, who also looked into the research, emphasized that for Kaiser there was only one sun in space and that it was moving.
It wasn’t tragic because he wanted to do research and he did it.
Sidra Ramo, who studied them as part of her class work, thinks his notes are fascinating. Kaiser took a different path than everyone else and stuck to it. “He wasn’t crazy, he was intelligent, but he used his knowledge differently.” Nivetha Nagabala agrees, and she also thinks that Wilhelm Kaiser should not be remembered as a sad, lonely figure. “It wasn’t tragic, because he wanted to research and he did that.”
Legend:
Despite living in the basement of the cantonal school, Wilhelm Kaiser had a wife. He married Helena Jankowska-Wajdzik in 1950. It is not known how much time the two spent together. The photo is from February 1982. Kaiser died a year later.
ZVG/Estate of the Solothurn Central Library
Wilhelm Kaiser’s extensive work has not yet been examined, and he never received any recognition for his research during his lifetime. As a person, however, he was never forgotten even after his death in 1983, albeit not because of his research, but as an edgy mind.