Adolf Horchler

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Adolf Horchler at the beginning of his career in Kempten , portrayed around 1878.
"Horchler, Brgmstr.": Signature of Adolf Horchler
After a festive service in March 1912, Adolf Horchler (left) walks with Martin Kellenberger along the Princely Residence.

Adolf Horchler (born January 8, 1849 in Regensburg , † January 12, 1929 in Straubing ) was a German non-party local politician , local researcher and state parliament president . His 36-year term as mayor of Kempten , the longest so far in this city, is known as the "Horchler era". Horchler is the founder of the Heimatverein Kempten . The honorary citizen of the city of Kempten received the title and rank of royal court counselor because of his work for Bavaria .

Life

School and education

Adolf Horchler's Catholic parents come from Pfreimd in Upper Palatinate . A few years before Adolf Horchler was born, the piano teacher and her husband, an art teacher, moved to Regensburg . Horchler was born on January 8, 1849 in Regensburg. Horchler passed his Abitur at a high school in Regensburg in 1866 and began studying law in Munich, which he completed there in October 1870. In 1873 he passed the great legal state examination in his native city with excellent success . Four years later the lawyer went to Feuchtwangen after two years in the municipal administration of his place of birth . Horchler married Sophie Aldosser, a notary's daughter from Munich, there in 1877. From this marriage there were two children, Max and Karolina.

Politician

The recognized work of Hochler aroused the interest of the Kempten magistrate . In autumn 1877 the magistrate decided to employ a legally qualified magistrate for the first time. The term of office was limited to three years. On October 4th of the same year the magistrate decided in favor of Adolf Horchler; after three years Horchler was confirmed in office. In 1881 he became mayor of the city of Kempten . The reason for this decision were irregularities in the administration of Horchler's predecessor, Franz Seraph Korrn . He had to leave the city with the severance payment.

From 1882 to 1919 Horchler was also a member of the Swabian state parliament and from 1901 its president.

In August 1914, Horchler was called back from vacation via telegraph . The four following years of the First World War made great demands on Horchler and the city. During this time, Horchler mourned his son, who had died in France on October 2, 1916 as captain of the reserve of the 20th Infantry Regiment .

Retirement and death

After Horchler had received honorary citizenship of the city of Kempten on January 27, 1919 , he ended the mayoral career he began on November 3, 1881 on January 31, 1919. Health reasons were decisive for this. Horchler's wife Sophie died in 1924.

Horchler wanted to spend the winter of 1928/29 with his daughter in Straubing. He died there four days after his 80th birthday on January 12, 1929. Three days later he was transferred to Kempten and buried next to his wife in the Catholic cemetery .

Act

Kempten had been divided for centuries for historical reasons: until 1818 there were two cities of the same name, located next to each other, called Kempten. Each city had its own administration, structure, economy and culture. The former imperial city, known as the “old town” and influenced by Protestants, was separated from the new city ​​by a city ​​wall . The Neustadt was ruled by the prince abbot in an absolutist way until the secularization in 1802 , was Catholic and is also called "Stiftsstadt". This coexistence was so firmly anchored in people's minds that there was still a certain hostility many decades after the Bavarian municipal edict.

Horchler's main goal was to bring both Kempten together in all areas of life. The city grew during the "Horchler era" from 12,000 to 21,000 inhabitants.

politics

Local politics

In order to achieve his goal of “one city”, the mayor attacked the complex coexistence. There were organizations that were not economically viable, but had the same purpose. Horchler let the grain Schrannenplatz the grain house in the New Town with the city hall combine the old town. He assumed that the volume of grain would decline and believed that the one new grain bin would meet future size requirements, and he was right. Due to strong resistance from the people of Neustadt, however, the merger could only be realized two years later than planned. Even after the amalgamation, the resistance continued: after the closure of the New Town granary, a black mourning flag waved on the building there; Death notices for the New Town granary appeared in the local sections of the newspapers.

During his tenure, the outside staircase was built as a symbol of unity. Houses were demolished in order to improve the flow of traffic between the old town, which is located lower down and on the river bank of the Iller , with the new town, which is located on the Illerhchterrasse. Various construction measures were also intended to ensure better access to the Kempten train station .

The creation of the city ​​park on the former Schwaigwiese between the two city centers is also thanks to Horchler. Shortly after taking office in 1885, Horchler arranged for the city to be re-measured and mapped on a 1: 1000 scale. This survey enabled modern infrastructure planning to keep pace with urbanization processes. This also made it possible to set up new settlement areas, which made the strong population growth possible at all.

These urbanization processes included the continuation of the canalisation, the installation of sidewalks , the installation of street lighting, the garbage disposal and the modernization of the water supply in Kempten . These improvements served the cleanliness, and thus the quality of life . One result of this was the gradual reduction in the child mortality rate in Kempten.

In terms of energy supply, the city acquired the gas factory below the Burghalde , built in 1857 and previously organized as a stock corporation . The construction of a power station made it possible to put arc lamps into operation on larger squares in Kempten on November 16, 1901.

In 1907 Horchler recognized the need for a second train station; That year he gave the order to build the Ostbahnhof with industrial sidings. He acquired several properties adjacent to the train station on behalf of the city in order to sell them cheaply to trade and industry.

Leadership style

Horchler's administrative and management style was similar to that of his successor Otto Merkt . His sometimes tough decisions led to some disputes in the city council and within the administration. Interest groups from the old town often competed against those from the new town, regardless of other party affiliations. Horchler's task throughout his entire term of office was therefore to deal with this centuries-old area of ​​conflict within the population of Kempten.

Horchler's political views, who did not belong to any party, can be described as German-national and also monarchist. He was a supporter of the Bavarian monarchy and repeatedly praised it in public speeches. In addition, Horchler was also a National Liberal and Bismarck admirer . In terms of local politics, the mayor tried to curb political Catholicism and the Social Democrats, which he succeeded for a long time.

Horchler pursued his own style in the management of the city, which the Old Catholic priest and city archivist Friedrich Heinrich Hacker (1880–1950) commented with these words: "Adolf Horchler did not belong to any party, he was himself the Horchler party."

A boycott of meetings by the New Town opposition front caused a sensation across the country. The hostility to Horchler was also evident on his 20th anniversary in service, when funds for a public celebration in 1901 were rejected by the city council. His opponents then demonstratively did not take part in the event that was ultimately approved. Horchler offered to resign when municipal officials asked him to leave a meeting. However, he remained in office.

The fact that he was able to stay as mayor in Kempten for almost 40 years despite all the opposition was also due to the fact that no opposing candidate was found on whom the city councils could have agreed. He also benefited from the sudden changes in constituencies that were common at the time.

Horchler demonstrated immense diligence in the preparation of handwritten documents and files. His distinctive handwriting is particularly noticeable in almost every file in the building files. The mayor himself wrote all the minutes after the council meetings. One of the concerns of the administrative specialist was to bring order into the town through regulations, instructions and statutes. Wolfgang Petz, historian and author of regional history, described Horchler as the most committed fighter for a merger of the twin cities of Kempten.

Culture

Home care

In his private life, Horchler was interested in history and archeology. The local researcher Horchler published his research results and in 1884 was co-founder with Joseph Buck and Adolf Leichtle of the Allgäuer Alterthumsverein , today's Heimatverein Kempten . Horchler's antiquity collection enabled the Allgäu local history museum to open in the new town of Kornhaus in 1925. Horchler also initiated the scientific "Reiser Collection". Under Horchler, the city library was re-cataloged and the city archive in the Neubronner Haus was restructured.

Horchler also initiated and organized a theater association for the Kempten City Theater , the Memmingen City Theater and the Kaufbeuren City Theater . This made a greater variety of performances possible. After the end of the First World War, Horchler founded an association of theater friends ; however, the influx was limited due to the general economic situation at the time. Horchler's interest in the theater was based on his attachment to the fine art that came from his parents. Horchler himself was artistically gifted, he was considered an excellent piano player well into old age.

numismatics

Horchler was known throughout Bavaria as an excellent numismatist . His hobby was registering and collecting various coin finds; Here he was particularly interested in Allgäu coins and comparable objects. Horchler not only paid attention to valuable ducats and the like, but also collected beer tokens , pilgrimage cards, porcelain medals , play money , lead seals , bottle deposit tokens , tokens , brands and club badges. According to Clemens Maria Haertle, who wrote a catalog of the Kempten coins, this is a great historical achievement by Horchler, because hardly anyone paid any attention to these cultural and historical relics of the past.

Over 20 numismatic manuscripts by Adolf Horchler have been preserved. These are articles, reports on finds, inventory and incoming lists, protocols and catalogs.

The coin collector Horchler cultivated intensive contacts with coin dealers from 1883. In the first ten years of his tenure, Horchler acquired the majority of his collection with considerable financial means. In 1925, the Horchler collection comprised around 2,200 ancient, 1,100 medieval and 4,000 modern coins and went to the local museum in Kempten.

Horchler turned to well-known German and Austrian coin dealers with a request for assistance to complete his collection of Kempten and Allgäu coins, which was successful. His numismatic contacts with Eugen Merzbach and Otto Helbing were particularly close . As early as 1883, Horchler mentioned his plans to establish a city museum for Kempten for the first time in a letter to Merzbach.

Honors

The photo album in the middle, behind it the model of the town hall fountain

Adolf Horchler was made an honorary citizen of the city of Kempten and was awarded the title and rank of Royal Councilor. This honor, received in 1901, was the result of his work in the Swabian state parliament from 1882 to 1919, since 1901 as its president.

In January 1926, the former Klosterstrasse on the edge of the old town in Kempten was renamed Horchlerstrasse in his honor .

A special honor for the city is an elaborately designed photo album that was presented to Horchler during a ceremony to mark his 25th anniversary with the company. The album weighs several kilos, is 40.5 cm long, 31 cm wide and almost 10 cm thick and is now kept in the city archive. The most important construction projects of his term in office to date are shown on the large-format photographs. The multi-colored leather binding shows the Kempten city coat of arms on the background of Bavarian diamonds and is provided with brass fittings .

Fonts

The local researcher was known throughout Germany as an expert in Allgäu coinage. He wrote reports and essays on coin finds and interpreted the origin, age and significance of the coins found. Some of his writings are:

  • A lawsuit between the monastery and the city of Kempten over the right to mint. In: Allgäu history friend . Vol. 2, 1889, pp. 56-60, 75-79, 85-89.
  • Mints of the Kemptner prince abbots. In: Allgäu history friend. Vol. 4, 1891, pp. 71-73.
  • Hans Vöhlin von Ungerhausen, medal. In: Allgäu history friend. Vol. 4, 1891, pp. 73-74.
  • The princely mint master Heel in Kempten. In: Allgäu history friend. Vol. 4, 1891, pp. 93-98.
  • Georg von Werdenstein, medal. In: Allgäu history friend. Vol. 4, 1891, pp. 109-110.
  • The abolition of the imperial city mint in Kempten. In: Allgäu history friend. Vol. 5, 1892, pp. 26-31, 41-47.
  • A ducate find. In: Communications of the Bavarian Numismatic Society. Vol. 12, 1893, pp. 75-80 .
  • Various coins from the Allgäu and its neighborhood. In: Allgäu history friend. Vol. 13, 1894 - Vol. 21, 1902.
  • The coin find from Leubas. In: Communications of the Bavarian Numismatic Society. Vol. 15 1896, pp. 1-30 .
  • Lecture on the Eschachweiher Canal - City of Kempten. September 5, 1921.

literature

  • Franz-Rasso Böck : Adolf Horchler - a forgotten mayor? In: Allgäu history friend. Vol. 103, 2003, pp. 162-176.
  • Clemens Maria Haertle: The coins and medals of the monastery and the city of Kempten. Inventory, type and variant catalog of the Allgäuer Heimatmuseum Kempten, Museum for Art and Cultural History (= inventory catalogs of the museums of the city of Kempten. 2). Dannheimer, Kempten 1993, ISBN 3-88881-014-0 , pp. 13-79.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Filser: Industrialization and Urbanization. Kempten 1850 to 1914. In: Volker Dotter Weich u. a. (Ed.): History of the city of Kempten. Dannheimer, Kempten 1989, ISBN 3-88881-011-6 , pp. 372-406, here p. 386.
  2. a b Clemens Maria Haertle: The coins and medals of the monastery and the city of Kempten. Inventory, type and variant catalog of the Allgäuer Heimatmuseum Kempten, Museum for Art and Cultural History (= inventory catalogs of the museums of the city of Kempten. 2). Dannheimer, Kempten 1993, ISBN 3-88881-014-0 , p. 21 f.
  3. Note: The state parliament of Neuburg-Schwaben is to be equated with the Swabian district assembly.
  4. Franz-Rasso Böck , Ralf Lienert , Joachim Weigel (eds.): JahrhundertBlicke auf Kempten 1900-2000 . Dannheimer et al., Kempten 1999, ISBN 3-88881-035-3 , p. 273, 275 .
  5. a b Birgit Kata: Curtain up! 400 years of theater in Kempten . Likias, Kempten / Friedberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-9807628-8-5 , p. 64 f .
  6. Note: IdF, the word "Neustadt" is not a new district, but merely the term for the monastery town that was completely destroyed during the Thirty Years' War and then rebuilt. This is why it has a newer building structure in contrast to the old town, which was called the old town due to its older buildings.
  7. Franz-Rasso Böck , Ralf Lienert , Joachim Weigel (eds.): JahrhundertBlicke auf Kempten 1900-2000 . Dannheimer et al., Kempten 1999, ISBN 3-88881-035-3 , p. 7 f .
  8. Franz-Rasso Böck , Ralf Lienert , Joachim Weigel (eds.): JahrhundertBlicke auf Kempten 1900-2000 . Dannheimer et al., Kempten 1999, ISBN 3-88881-035-3 , p. 42 .
  9. Franz-Rasso Böck , Ralf Lienert , Joachim Weigel (eds.): JahrhundertBlicke auf Kempten 1900-2000 . Dannheimer et al., Kempten 1999, ISBN 3-88881-035-3 , p. 91 .
  10. ^ A b c Karl Filser: Industrialization and Urbanization. Kempten 1850 to 1914. In: Volker Dotter Weich u. a. (Ed.): History of the city of Kempten. Dannheimer, Kempten 1989, ISBN 3-88881-011-6 , p. 372-406, here p. 388 f.
  11. ^ Karl Filser: Industrialization and Urbanization. Kempten 1850 to 1914. In: Volker Dotter Weich u. a. (Ed.): History of the city of Kempten. Dannheimer, Kempten 1989, ISBN 3-88881-011-6 , pp. 372-406, here p. 396.
  12. ^ Wolfgang Petz: Twice Kempten. History of a twin city (1694–1836) (= writings of the philosophical faculties of the University of Augsburg. 54, historical-social science series. ). Vögel, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-89650-027-9 (also: Augsburg, University, dissertation, 1996).
  13. Franz-Rasso Böck , Ralf Lienert , Joachim Weigel (eds.): JahrhundertBlicke auf Kempten 1900-2000 . Dannheimer et al., Kempten 1999, ISBN 3-88881-035-3 , p. 160 ff .
  14. Franz-Rasso Böck , Ralf Lienert , Joachim Weigel (eds.): JahrhundertBlicke auf Kempten 1900-2000 . Dannheimer et al., Kempten 1999, ISBN 3-88881-035-3 , p. 203 ff .
  15. a b Clemens Maria Haertle: The coins and medals of the monastery and the city of Kempten. Inventory, type and variant catalog of the Allgäuer Heimatmuseum Kempten, Museum for Art and Cultural History (= inventory catalogs of the museums of the city of Kempten. 2). Dannheimer, Kempten 1993, ISBN 3-88881-014-0 , pp. 27-30.
  16. Clemens Maria Haertle: Coins and Medals of the pen and the city of Kempten. Inventory, type and variant catalog of the Allgäuer Heimatmuseum Kempten, Museum for Art and Cultural History (= inventory catalogs of the museums of the city of Kempten. 2). Dannheimer, Kempten 1993, ISBN 3-88881-014-0 , p. 24.
  17. ^ Franz-Rasso Böck : Adolf Horchler - a forgotten mayor? In: Allgäu history friend. Vol. 103, 2003, pp. 162-176.
  18. The bibliography comes from the library catalog of the Kempten City Library, available at biber.kempten.de - search for “Horchler, Adolf”.