Albert Dehne

Albert Dehne's grave in Halle's Stadtgottesacker

Albert Ludwig Georg Dehne (* 13. September 1832 in Halle (Saale) ; † 9. February 1906 ibid ) was a German mechanical engineer and entrepreneur . Dehne was the founder of the machine factory in Halle, one of the oldest and largest mechanical engineering companies in the city. He was 13 years a city councilor and in 1903 to honor citizens appointed by Hall.

Life

family

Dehne was born as the second son of the royal Prussian main tax clerk Georg Wilhelm Dehne (* December 2, 1786, † May 8, 1856). His mother Sophie Charlotte (born October 22, 1808; † May 15, 1881) was born in von Stölting. Albert was baptized at the beginning of October 1832 in the Ulrichskirche in Halle . His godparents included a count von der Schulenburg , a lieutenant von Hartz and a lieutenant von Tresckow , the two professors at Halle University Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger and Heinrich Leo .

Professional background

Dehne learned to be a mechanic and optician after finishing school . At the beginning of 1858 he founded the Albert LG Dehne company at Grosse Märkerstraße 4 in Halle. In 1863, after purchasing a piece of land in Schimmelgasse, he expanded his company from a handcrafted valve maker to a machine factory. At the beginning of 1867, Dehne built a porter's house with a passage to the rear factories. Between 1871 and 1873 several extensions were made.

Especially after the Franco-Prussian War , Dehne succeeded in securing a good order book for his company with the manufacture of filter presses for sugar production. For years he was the world market leader in this field. He delivered filter presses for sugar refineries in 800 variants of excellent quality. In addition, Dehnes company produced fittings for water and gas pipes, pumps and steam engines. In 1880 the company had over 300 employees, in 1890 there were 600. The company was one of the largest private employers in Halle. In 1890 the iron foundry alone produced 20 tons of cast goods a day.

The financially very successful Dehne, he was one of the richest citizens of Halle, was able to donate 250,000 marks in 1900 to the erection of the Kaiser Wilhelm monument in Halle, which was inaugurated a year later. But it also financed numerous cultural institutions and events as well as humanitarian, communal and scientific projects. He was able to bind his highly qualified craftsmen, technicians and engineers to the company with the creation of his own company apartments and a works association.

Albert Dehne died on February 9, 1906 at the age of 73 after a long and serious illness in Halle. Three days later he was buried in Halle's Stadtgottesacker , his grave is in the inner field of Department III in the Dehne family's hereditary burial. He was a city councilor in Halle for over 13 years. From June 1880 Dehne was a member of the Masonic lodge to the three swords in Halle and from 1881 to 1889 captain of the city ​​rifle club .

Marriage and offspring

Since 1859 Albert Dehne was married to the seventeen-year-old Antonie (* 1842, † 1917), born von Schulz. His wife was originally from Camburg and was raised by relatives from Halle after the early death of her parents. She was involved in social and humanitarian areas and was active in nursing the sick and wounded as early as 1866 during the German War and from 1870 to 1871 during the Franco-German War. Even after the death of her husband, she looked after the wounded during the First World War . Since 1882 Antonie Dehne has been a member of the board of directors of the Fatherland Women's Association , which she took over as chairman in 1901. As early as 1896 she founded a children's health and care center together with Mathilde von Voss, the wife of the mayor of Halle, Franz von Voss .

The marriage of Antonie and Albert Dehne had at least three children. The two sons Paul and Max Dehne became partners in their father's company while Albert Dehne was still alive . They were able to continue the company as a family business after his death . The daughter Margarete (* May 13, 1864 - May 1, 1951) married an entrepreneur from Trotha . After the early death of her husband and the death of her mother in 1917, she took over part of her social work. Margarete was one of the first car owners in Halle and very active in the local automobile club .

Honors

In October 1897, Albert Dehne received the title of Privy Councilor of Commerce for his services .

In 1902, while still alive, he was honored with the naming of a street in Halle. Albert-Dehne-Straße was renamed Gustav-Anlauf-Straße in 1959 under pressure from the SED . Gustav Anlauf was a Social Democrat who was hired as a worker in the foundry of Albert Dehne's factory on July 12, 1881, and who died of a stroke just four days later . Only after the fall of the Wall and the peaceful revolution in the GDR was a resolution passed by the city council on December 19, 1990 to rename a street in Halle-Silberhöhe after Albert Dehne.

On November 18, 1903, Albert Dehne was given honorary citizenship of the city of Halle. He was one of the first entrepreneurs in the city to receive this honor. The certificate names Dehne "the founder of our flourishing machine industry".

literature

• Ralf Jacob : resting place of important personalities of the German intellectual and economic history. In: City of Halle (Saale), The Lord Mayor (Ed.): The Halle city godsack. Unique cemetery complex from the German Renaissance. Hall 2003, page 25, ( digitized )
• Walter Müller: Albert Dehne (1832-1906). Pioneer of mechanical engineering in Halle. In: EKKEHARD. Family and regional history research. New series 14, volume 2 (part 1), pages 54–63, and new series 14, volume 3 (part 2), pages 65–71, Halle 2007.
• Erich Neuss : The development of Halle's economic life from the end of the 18th century to the world war. Meyer, Halberstadt 1924, pages 129 and 144.
• Johanna Ritter: Street signs for a manufacturer. In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung . Halle, September 12, 2008, ( digitized )

Web links

• Dehne, Albert - committed industrialist in www.halle.de
• Albert Ludwig Georg Dehne (1832–1906) in www.buergerstiftung-halle.de