Christian Hege (politician)

Christian Hege (born August 15 or September 15, 1840 at the Oberbiegelhof ; † April 4 or April 18, 1907 in Löwenstein - Breitenau ) was a German farmer and politician . From 1895 to 1900 he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Württemberg Land estates .

Life

Hege came from a large Mennonite family and had 15 siblings. His parents, whose ancestors had once emigrated from Switzerland because of persecution of their Anabaptist faith , leased the Helmstatt'sche Gut Oberbiegelhof. Like his siblings, Christian Hege attended elementary school in Obergimpern , and like his brothers, his parents intended him to become a farmer.

In 1867 the lease of the princely Löwenstein estate Breitenauer Hof was released, which he should take over. Since he needed a wife for this, he got engaged in June to the Mennonite Magdalena "Lenchen" Becker (1847–1928), the only daughter of the widowed Daniel Becker from Branchweilerhof in the Palatinate , and married her on October 15th. With their numerous children, who emerged from the marriage over the next few years, the two ran the Breitenauer Hof, with their mother's older daughters helping their younger children up. As usual with the Mennonites, Hege was a lay preacher and preached at Mennonite gatherings that took place at Lautenbacher Hof , among other places . In the Mennonite congregation in the Heilbronn area, which gathered not only at the Lautenbacher Hof but also at the Lobenbacher Hof near Stein am Kocher , he was a preacher after October 19, 1890 , and an elder after January 28, 1894 .

A vineyard plow designed by Hege himself was patented , built for many years by the plow factory Gebrüder Eberhardt from Ulm and successfully presented in the presence of Max Eyth in 1890 at the DLG exhibition in Strasbourg . Hege gained respect and ran in the state elections on January 9, 1889 as a non-party in the constituency of Weinsberg. His opponent Wilhelm Meyder from the national liberal German party , the mayor of Eschenau , won with 2,060 of 3,643 votes. The election was contested from January 25th to 28th by three groups of people (18 signatories from Weinsberg , 24 signatories from Affaltrach and "a large number of signatories from multiple locations in the electoral district") because of irregularities. It was criticized that Meyder's preprinted ballot papers were twice as big as those of Hege and were also made of bluish-white paper, so that in the election without envelopes for the election supervisor it was immediately apparent who was voting for which candidate. Many voters therefore would not have dared to vote for Hege, since several electoral boards, such as Weinsberg's city school leader Carl Seufferheld and some local officials, had emphatically supported the candidate Meyder before the election. "Given the great dependence of many voters on the local councilors, a lot of voters would have preferred to vote according to the will of the latter." The election challenge was rejected by the Chamber of Deputies' committee on January 30th. Another submission by five citizens of Unterheinriet , who complained about further irregularities on February 9, was rejected by the legitimation commission on May 8, so that Meyder was elected.

In the next election in 1895, Hege ran again, and this time he won against the SPD candidate Bohne, a carpenter from Stuttgart. In the Chamber of Deputies, Hege was a member of the Petitions Commission. For religious reasons, he refused to take the oath when he was sworn in to parliament .

After 1900, the leased property was financially worse because Hege was exhausted, his vigor slackened and some unfortunate circumstances such as downy mildew arose in the vines. In 1905 he appointed his 20-year-old son Hans, who was trusted to move the debt-laden company forward, as operations manager. Christian Hege died on April 4, 1907, after having contracted severe pneumonia three days earlier . He was buried in the Löwenstein cemetery.

family

Hege's marriage had 19 children, twelve daughters and seven sons, some of whom died early. The first-born child, the son Christian (born July 3, 1868), was supposed to acquire the university entrance qualification at a Mennonite boarding school and then study at the Agricultural University of Hohenheim , but fell ill and died in 1889 of consumption . Hege wondered if he was going too far in making his son go to college, and concluded that Mennonites should remain farmers, as they had been for centuries. His eldest surviving son, Hans Hege (1885–1983), the first son after many daughters, he therefore determined to become a farmer like his father, although his teacher considered him suitable for technical or scientific training. He therefore left school at the age of 13. After the intervention of Hege's sons-in-law, the younger sons were all allowed to go to high school . The son Friedrich became chief agricultural officer, the youngest son Wilhelm (* 1892) an engineer .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Article Hege (Hegi, Hegy, Hagey) family . In: Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
2. ↑ according to Frank Raberg, s. literature
3. ↑ according to Charlotte Hofmann-Hege, s. literature
4. ↑ Article Lobenbach (Baden-Württemberg, Germany) . In: Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
5. ^ Report of the Standing Committee on the legitimation of the MP for the Oberamt Weinsberg . In: Negotiations of the Württemberg Chamber of Deputies in the years 1889–1890 . Officially published. First volume of supplements, first division (1889–1890). Stuttgart, Appendix 4, p. 7–9 , urn : nbn: de: bsz: 24-ltp382442156_071_180_1889-1891_k2b7 ( p. 7 in the Google book search USA , first supplement volume, first department at the Württemberg State Library).
6. ^ Report of the legitimation commission regarding the contestation of the election of the representative for the Oberamt Weinsberg . In: Negotiations of the Württemberg Chamber of Deputies in the years 1889–1890 . Officially published. First volume of supplements, first division (1889–1890). Stuttgart, Appendix 35, p. 124–125 , urn : nbn: de: bsz: 24-ltp382442156_071_180_1889-1891_k2b7 ( p. 124 in the Google book search USA , first supplement volume, first department at the Württemberg State Library).

literature

• Frank Raberg : Biographical handbook of the Württemberg state parliament members 1815-1933 . On behalf of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-17-016604-2 , p. 339 .
• Charlotte Hofmann-Hege : A golden trace. Memories of Hans Hege. 5th edition. Eugen Salzer-Verlag, Heilbronn 1993, ISBN 3-7936-0239-7 , pp. 9-50, 79.