Abraham Philipp Schuldt

Abraham Philipp Schuldt (born April 9, 1807 in Hamburg ; † February 29, 1892 there ) was a Hamburg merchant and founder of the foundation.

Life

Abraham Philipp Schuldt was born on April 9, 1807 in Hamburg as the son of the businessman Joachim Michael Schuldt and his wife Catharina Agneta Schuldt, nee. Kryck was born. The father was the sole owner of the company JC Haack & Schuldt, a commission and forwarding business, which was mainly dedicated to the import of Russian grain . He had an older brother named Martin Heinrich.

The childhood of both coincided with the French occupation of Hamburg, the so-called Hamburg French period . During this time, in 1813, after Hamburg was reoccupied by the French, the father was kidnapped as a hostage to Harburg because the city had defaulted on the first installment of the required penalty of 48 million francs. The father was supposed to pay 80,000 francs for his release, which indicates his considerable fortune. The mother died on June 2, 1819, when Abraham Philipp was twelve years old.

He completed his apprenticeship together with his brother in his father's company, which now also ran financing transactions. This was followed by a five-year stay abroad, especially in Bordeaux , to expand his commercial knowledge. The father then made him a partner in the company, but removed him again from the business after the latter carried out arbitrary speculations with an economically unfavorable outcome. He then received an annual income approved by his father.

When his father retired on January 1, 1832 at the age of 55, his eldest son Martin Heinrich took over the company, but died on May 30, 1834 at the age of only 29 in Pisa , so that Abraham Philipp became the sole owner of the company. However, the father still exercised a certain control function. After a few years, however, on January 1, 1839, Abraham Philipp liquidated the company, probably because he lacked the desire and interest in the business and there were frequent differences with his father.

In the following years he devoted himself more to social entertainment. This probably also led to the fact that his father declared him the only heir in his will of 1841, but also obliged him not to sell the extensive property or mortgage it. Abraham Philipp probably continued to work commercially and collected works of art.

The father died on March 16, 1857, leaving him a considerable inheritance, which was based among other things on a large property and which continued to generate some rental income. Just one year later he bought the extensive property of the royal Bavarian consul general Adolph Ritter von Hildebrandt an den Hohen Bleichen in Hamburg and had the building extensively redesigned by the architect Martin Haller (later a member of the Hamburg parliament ). The manorial residence with a splendid garden in the French style developed into a sight of Hamburg. Noble riding horses were housed on the site.

As the landlord of his property, Abraham Philipp Schuldt showed himself to be generous towards his tenants and did not increase the rents. At that time rents were still paid every six months, which made it difficult for the less well-off, as they had to save six months. Before each rent payment day, Schuldt distributed a large amount of money in small installments to people who were standing in front of his property in front of his property, but without checking their neediness.

Schuldt's will

Schuldt's tomb in the Ohlsdorf cemetery

On January 14, 1887, Schuldt made his will and decreed that all of his assets should be liquidated and used to establish a foundation named after him. It can be read literally: "The aim of the foundation is to build small apartments that consist of two to three rooms, a forecourt and a kitchen". Respectable and innocent people with low incomes were intended as tenants. This was in contrast to other foundations, which provided inexpensive or rent-free apartments for widows, unmarried women without a job, the elderly and the disabled. Two thirds of the construction costs were to be paid from the foundation's assets, the last third was to be obtained by taking out mortgages or contracting bonds. The interest for it, as well as all fees, administration costs and repairs should be paid from the rental income. The Abraham Philipp Schuldt Foundation was established on August 28, 1891 and is still in existence today.

Abraham Philipp Schuldt died on February 29, 1892 at the age of 85, without having been ill before. His last resting place has been since 1954 (relocation from St. Jacobi cemetery) in the Ohlsdorf cemetery in Hamburg, where a grave monument with a white portrait medallion is located.

auction

Schuldt had amassed an extensive art collection, which, together with the furniture and other furnishings in Haus Hohe Bleichen 19, was auctioned by the Lempertz auction house from May 2nd to 5th, 1893 .

Estate catalogs

• Catalog of the selected and extensive gallery of modern paintings from the estate of the pensioner Mr. Abraham Philipp Schuldt in Hamburg: Auction in Hamburg on May 2, 1893, 2 1/2 in the afternoon in the testator's villa ... by JM Heberle (H. Lempertz 'Sons). 1893
• Catalog of selected and excellent art objects, movables, furnishings, etc., from the estate of the pensioner Mr. Abraham Philipp Schuldt in Hamburg ...: Auction in Hamburg, May 3rd to 5th, 1893 ... in the testator's villa , ..., JM Heberle (H. Lempertz Sons), from Cologne. 1893

literature

• Renate Hauschild-Thiessen: 100 years of the Abraham Philipp Schuldt Foundation. Ges. Der Bücherfreunde, Hamburg 1996, DNB 949389846 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Advertisement in the Illustrirten Zeitung of April 22, 1893