Ludwig Hohl is one of the most distinctive outsider figures in Swiss literature of the 20th century. His existence is symbolized by the image of an author who lives for decades in a basement room in Geneva, hanging his manuscripts on a clothesline. However, little is known about his beginnings. The Parisian notes from 1926, published for the first time in 2004, show Hohl in the company of a small Swiss colony in Paris, leading a bohemian life in cafés. There is no information about significant literary influences. When Hohl left Paris in 1930 to dedicate himself to his main work, the Notes, first in Austria and then in The Hague, the information largely comes to a halt. A collection of letters sheds light on this significant period, found in a proverbial emigrant's suitcase in Edinburgh. They are addressed to Isaak Grünberg.