August Wilhelm Francke

August Wilhelm Francke (born March 14, 1785 in Karow (near Genthin) , † May 23, 1851 in Magdeburg ) was Lord Mayor of Magdeburg.

Life

August Wilhelm Francke

Francke was born the son of a leaseholder. From 1790 to 1803 he went to high school in Brandenburg (Havel) and then studied law in Halle (Saale) . In 1804 he became a member of the Corps Saxonia Halle . In 1807 he entered the Westphalian service and started as a trainee lawyer at the War and Domain Chamber in Magdeburg. In 1808, when the domain chamber was dissolved, he found employment with the sub-prefecture in Halle (Saale). In 1809 he was appointed Prefectural Councilor to Göttingen , where he only stayed for a few months. He then became General Secretary of the Elbe Department of the Kingdom of Westphalia in Magdeburg. In this role there were constant problems with French rule, as Francke saw himself as a German patriot . In 1813 Francke therefore went to Osterode am Harz as sub-prefect . After the end of the Kingdom of Westphalia in the course of the French defeat in the Battle of Leipzig , Francke became a Prussian military government councilor in Halberstadt . Later, in April 1817, he became a councilor to the newly formed government in Erfurt .

Acting as Lord Mayor of Magdeburg

On May 23, 1817 Francke was by Friedrich Wilhelm III. , whose favor he enjoyed, was appointed district administrator, police director and mayor of Magdeburg.

Francke founded the Stadtsparkasse Magdeburg , which still exists today, in 1823 , but also a school teacher widow's and orphan's fund and a wood supply company. In addition to the poor system, Francke reformed the city's school system. Magdeburg had the most modern school system in Germany at the time . All children of all population groups in the city were recorded by this system developed in cooperation with the school inspector Karl Zerrener . Francke lived at Georgenplatz 3 at this time .

Several parks were created under his responsibility, and Francke won over Peter Joseph Lenné to design them. As early as 1825 the monastery mountain garden . Other facilities were the Herrenkrugpark and the Glacisweg. In 1827, the Nordfriedhof (today's Nordpark ) was the first cemetery outside the city fortifications, against the resistance of the fortress commander Count Gustav von Hacke . For reasons of hygiene and to improve the quality of the groundwater, it was urgently necessary to relieve the inner-city cemeteries.

Francke showed a strong commitment to fighting the cholera that broke out in 1831 . Eight cholera barracks and various soup distribution points were set up in a short time.

After the enactment of the statutes of March 17, 1831, he resigned from office as Lord Mayor and took the office of police chief of Berlin. Shortly afterwards, the Magdeburg citizens brought him back and made him mayor for life.

In 1832 he had street lighting improved.

Francke was very committed to promoting steam shipping on the Elbe . He initiated the construction of large new storage facilities (Neuer Packhof 1832–1836) and was committed to the expansion of the railway connections, especially the Magdeburg – Leipzig railway line (inauguration 1840). Other projects he supported were the Magdeburg- Halberstadt (1843) and Magdeburg- Potsdam (1846) lines.

Francke improved the Magdeburg water supply and had the original wooden pipes replaced with cast iron ones. From 1844, water was pumped using steam power.

He also thought about expanding the city and wrote a corresponding memorandum. This approach was only implemented 30 years later under his successor Gustav Hasselbach .

Francke's monument in the north park

In 1848 Francke resigned from office under the impression of the revolution , which he was opposed to.

In 1849 Francke was elected to the Prussian House of Representatives for the second legislative period for the Magdeburg constituency. He belonged to the faction of the center. On September 11, 1850, he resigned from the mandate.

He was a board member of various railway companies.

Honors

Francke was a knight of the Red Eagle Order . In 1857 Gustav Blaeser created a memorial for him on behalf of the city of Magdeburg, which was made by Georg Ferdinand Howaldt in Braunschweig and which now stands in the city's north park after its implementation . In 1997 the Magdeburg Society donated an August Wilhelm Francke Medal from 1990 to be awarded to Magdeburg personalities.

The city of Magdeburg named a street in his honor ( Franckestrasse ).

family

His son Otto Francke , born in 1823, was mayor of Stralsund from 1864 until his death in 1886 .

literature

• Ingelore Buchholz : Francke, August Wilhelm. In: Guido Heinrich, Gunter Schandera (ed.): Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon 19th and 20th centuries. Biographical lexicon for the state capital Magdeburg and the districts of Bördekreis, Jerichower Land, Ohrekreis and Schönebeck. Scriptum, Magdeburg 2002, ISBN 3-933046-49-1 .
• Martin Wiehle : Magdeburg personalities. Published by the Magistrate of the City of Magdeburg, Department of Culture. imPuls Verlag, Magdeburg 1993, ISBN 3-910146-06-6 .
• Otto Francke:  Francke, August Wilhelm . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, pp. 233-235.
• Bernd Haunfelder : Biographical manual for the Prussian House of Representatives 1849–1867 (= manuals on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 5). Droste, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-7700-5181-5 , p. 100.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1960, 56 , 13
2. ↑ EF Liweh, address book of the city of Magdeburg , Magdeburg 1823, page 31
3. ↑ EF Liweh, address book of the city of Magdeburg , Magdeburg 1823, page 31