Anton Bernhardi

Portrait of Anton Bernhardis in old age

Friedrich August Anton Bernhardi (born September 19, 1813 in Süptitz ; † May 24, 1889 in Eilenburg ) was a German doctor, cooperative member, politician, social reformer and entrepreneur. He invented the process of making artificial sand-lime brick .

Life

Training and activity as a doctor

Anton Bernhardi was born on September 19, 1813 in the small town of Süptitz near Torgau as the son of a Protestant pastor. In addition to his school education, he learned the Latin language from his father . Bernhardi passed his Abitur with distinction at the Torgau Gymnasium. He then began studying medicine and natural sciences in Halle an der Saale . In 1837 he successfully completed this at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin with a doctorate. His dissertation “De bubone syphilitico” , written in Latin, deals with lymph node swelling as a symptom of syphilis . After the inauguration , he settled in Eilenburg as a general practitioner and surgeon . In connection with his professional practice, Bernhardi worked as an author of medical writings. He founded and directed the journal for medical therapy and was appointed an external member of the “Berlin Medical Association for Therapy”. In addition, he was a corresponding member of various medical associations abroad. For a short time Bernhardi was the Royal Medical Councilor and Physicist . As a doctor for the poor in the crisis years of late March , Bernhardi got to know the plight of factory workers in the city and began to grapple with the social issue .

Social and political engagement

The Bernhardis residential and commercial building in Eilenburg

The revolutionary events of 1848/1849 prompted Bernhardi to become politically active. According to his own statement, the aim of his political activity was the “people's welfare ”. The left-liberal Bernhardi was involved in the Democratic Party and in 1848 became a deputy member of the Prussian National Assembly for his party friend Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch . From this time there is evidence of a lively correspondence between Bernhardi and Schulze-Delitzsch, which was found during a house search of Bernhardi in 1851. The police suspected that he was in possession of prohibited documents. Bernhardi, extremely popular in Eilenburg, came into conflict with the police and the judiciary several times due to his political activities. In 1849 Bernhardi was sentenced to four months in prison for calling on Landwehr soldiers drafted for military service to desert . Among other things, in 1850 he received another three-month prison term for insulting officials . However, this did not detract from its popularity. In the 1860s he was elected to the Prussian House of Representatives in his constituency , where he was a member of the Commission for Finance and Customs and the Economic Commission. In addition, Bernhardi was a city councilor in Eilenburg for many years.

He was a member of the Wurzen Freemason Lodge Friedrich August zum loyal Bunde and between 1873 and 1878 its master of the chair .

Cooperative work

Bernhardi's place of activity, Eilenburg, was a nucleus of the cooperative system in the middle of the 19th century. Due to his activities in the citizens' association, a starting point for the new cooperative ideas, Bernhardi was instrumental in founding some of the first German cooperatives.

Bernhardi in 1850

On November 21, 1849, Bernhardi founded the medical support association with the master tailor Ernst Bürmann and another craftsman named Roscher. Their basic concern was a health insurance company that worked on the idea of cooperative self-help. Bernhardi's plans for a “medical organization with free medical treatment and a progressive health tax” anticipated the system of statutory health insurance that currently exists in Germany. A contribution for the health tax and the doctor's tax was based on the income of the members. Shortly afterwards, several factory health insurance funds were created based on the same model. The health support association existed until at least the 1880s, the time of the introduction of the Bismarck social laws .

In 1850, Bernhardi and Bürmann founded an Eilenburg loan association. It was the first German credit union with solidarity . This clearly differentiated this association from the Delitzscher Loan Fund founded by Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch about six months earlier, which waived solidarity and whose statute approved the acceptance of third-party funds. Schulze-Delitzsch and Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen , who are now considered to be the masterminds of the cooperative movement, adopted the concept devised by Bernhardi, which helped the advance funds they founded to be successful. The Eilenburger Genossenschaftsbank, whose director Bernhardi remained until 1863, developed extremely successfully and continued - later as the Eilenburger Bankverein - into the first half of the 20th century.

In addition, Bernhardi initiated the establishment of the food association in Eilenburg with the bookbinder August Fritzsche in 1850 . This was able to guarantee its members an affordable supply of food because the retail margin was no longer applicable. This association was the first German consumer cooperative . Due to hostility from the city traders and political pressure from the Merseburg district government, the association stopped its activities the following year. The cooperative retail trade, which was devised by Bernhardi, among others, dominated the GDR era (see consumption in the GDR ). The tradition was continued by the Sachsen-Nord consumer cooperative until the recent past .

Bernhardi as an entrepreneur

Title of Bernhardi's patent specification for lime brick manufacture (around 1856)

In his function as a doctor, Bernhardi got to know the poor living conditions of the poorer population and identified this as one of the reasons for the lower resistance to pathogens. From 1850 he was engaged in the production of artificial sand-lime bricks as an inexpensive building material for social housing and agriculture. A first description of the process he developed is dated August 13, 1854. His handwritten patent specification from around 1856 contains specific instructions for lime brick production and building as well as detailed sketches of a machine for producing the new building material. Two years earlier he founded the Dr. Bernhardi Sohn , who manufactured the machines for the series production of the sand-lime bricks. The decisive advantage of the new bricks was that they did not have to be fired. The stones were only cold-pressed, which significantly reduced the production and costs. Bernhardi successfully promoted sand-lime brick production, which spread rapidly. Until his death he kept improving the machines. The name Bernhardi stayed in the company name until 1947. With the nationalization of the company, the acronym EBAWE replaced the old name. EBAWE Anlagentechnik still produces machines for precast concrete production today.

Death and memory

Bernhardi died on May 24, 1889 in Eilenburg. He was buried in the local city cemetery. A street in Eilenburg is named after him. The representative residential and commercial building Bernhardis on the Nordring, next to which the machine factory was located, is a listed building and is now a stop on the historical city tour of Eilenburg .

Publications

Bernhardi was characterized by a lively journalistic activity . His writings dealt with his specialty, medicine, for which he founded his own medium in 1848 with the journal for scientific therapy , and with socio-economic problems. Many of his essays appeared in the Eilenburger Volksblatt , whose owner was a close confidante of Bernhardi, and in the Eilenburger Wochenblatt . Bernhardi later wrote articles on lime brick production as part of his entrepreneurial activity . Two of his pamphlets from the time of the March Revolution reveal Bernhardi's basic convictions and gave the first cooperatives a considerable boost.

The manual worker and his need (1847)

The aggravated plight of the many manual workers in the city due to bad harvests and increased food prices prompted Bernhardi to deal with this socio-economic problem for the first time and to develop concrete solutions. Bernhardi argued that the factory worker only had his own labor available to obtain the most basic necessities of life. The main need is bread, since "the labor [...] the bread consumed by the worker [is] only in a different form". According to Bernhardi, the price of bread was the only relevant yardstick for calculating the wages to be paid to the worker. At the same time he was not convinced of the sole self-help of the workers, since "such a process necessarily requires at least a slight degree of intelligence, which we do not find in the aforementioned level of manual workers". He considered a voluntary adjustment of the wages by the employer to be ruled out, as this would contradict the "commercial principles" of the free economy. Consequently, Bernhardi saw the state as obliged to set minimum wages that would be based on the current bread price. He also advocated standardizing the interest rate for loans by the state. Due to Bernhardi's violent criticism of the mechanical production method, his article met with strong rejection from the manufacturer Carl Degenkolb , who polemicized against the author in the local press.

On the social disadvantages of industrial machinery (1848)

Bernhardi recognized the increasing mechanical production method in this publication as the main cause of the rising unemployment among factory workers. To solve the worsening social problems he called for a legal restriction on the use of machines and - after the creation of a German nation-state - the introduction of protective tariffs . Bernhardi thus positioned himself as an opponent of economic liberalism . Among other things, this distinguished him from his companion Schulze-Delitzsch, who appeared as a proponent of Manchester capitalism with the newly founded German Progress Party . According to Bernhardi, "the good of the whole was to be given priority over the advantages of individual citizens." With the continued capitalist competition, Bernhardi prophesied as a consequence "the disregard of property rights and communism" by the needy workers and unemployed. Even if Bernhardi's view of the world did not change significantly, only a few years after the publication he moved away from the standpoint of the strict rejection of the use of machines.

literature

Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers printing and publishing house, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937
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 .
Hans-Joachim Böttcher : Bernhardi, Friedrich August Anton Gottvertrau, in: Important historical personalities of the Düben Heath, AMF - No. 237, 2012, p. 12.

Web links

Commons : Anton Bernhardi - Collection of images, videos and audio files

De bubone syphilitico , Bernhardi's dissertation from the holdings of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek digitized in the Google book search
Anton Bernhardi's biography on the website of the city of Eilenburg
Information about the machine works Dr. Bernhardi's son in the Leipzig State Archives

Individual evidence

↑ The sand-lime brick industry - pioneers of innovative masonry construction on the website of the Federal Association of Sand-Lime Bricks, accessed on November 26, 2019
^ Friedrich August Anton Bernhardi: De bubone syphilitico , Medical Inaugural Dissertation, Berlin 1837, in the holdings of the Bavarian State Library
↑ Eilenburger Wochenblatt , April 29, 1848; quoted from: Dr. Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg 1937, page 52
^ Teuteberg, Hans Jürgen: On the history of the origins of the first company workers' representatives in Germany , first published in: Soziale Welt , Vol. 11, H. 1–2, P. 72, Göttingen 1960
^ Anton Bernhardi: Die Ärzte als Gesundheitsbeamte , page 1, 1849, quoted from: Otto Ruhmer: Genossenschafts- und Sozialbücherei Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 53.
^ Günther Ringle: Beginnings, development and structure of the rural cooperative system in: Heinrich-Kaufmann-Stiftung (Ed.): Contributions to the 5th conference on cooperative history (2010) , Norderstedt 2012, page 12, ISBN 978-3-842-38353- 1
↑ Marvin Brendel (Ed.): Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch - Selected Writings and Speeches of the Founding Father of the Cooperatives , Berlin 2008, page 20 f., ISBN 978-3-941362-01-7
↑ Walther G. Oschilewski : Will and Action. The way of the German consumer cooperative movement. , Hamburg 1953, page 24 f.
↑ Burchard Bösche and Frederik Korf: Chronicle of the German consumer cooperatives - 150 years of consumer cooperatives in Germany - 100 years of the Central Association of German Consumer Cooperatives. V. (PDF; 178 kB), accessed on November 26, 2019
↑ Chronicle of the ZdK with pictures ( Memento from December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF - 1.7 MB)
^ Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 55.
^ The archivists of the district of Eilenburg (ed.): The archives of the district of Eilenburg , undated (before 1990), page 7 ff.
^ Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 70.
^ Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 58.
^ Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 59.
^ Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 51.
↑ ^a ^b Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 60.
^ Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 61.
^ Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers printing and publishing house, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 62.

personal data
SURNAME	Bernhardi, Anton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bernhardi, Friedrich August Anton (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German doctor, politician and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH	September 19, 1813
PLACE OF BIRTH	Süptitz
DATE OF DEATH	May 24, 1889
Place of death	Eilenburg

[1] The sand-lime brick industry - pioneers of innovative masonry construction on the website of the Federal Association of Sand-Lime Bricks, accessed on November 26, 2019

[2] Friedrich August Anton Bernhardi: De bubone syphilitico , Medical Inaugural Dissertation, Berlin 1837, in the holdings of the Bavarian State Library

[3] Eilenburger Wochenblatt , April 29, 1848; quoted from: Dr. Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg 1937, page 52

[4] Teuteberg, Hans Jürgen: On the history of the origins of the first company workers' representatives in Germany , first published in: Soziale Welt , Vol. 11, H. 1–2, P. 72, Göttingen 1960

[5] Anton Bernhardi: Die Ärzte als Gesundheitsbeamte , page 1, 1849, quoted from: Otto Ruhmer: Genossenschafts- und Sozialbücherei Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 53.

[6] Günther Ringle: Beginnings, development and structure of the rural cooperative system in: Heinrich-Kaufmann-Stiftung (Ed.): Contributions to the 5th conference on cooperative history (2010) , Norderstedt 2012, page 12, ISBN 978-3-842-38353- 1

[7] Marvin Brendel (Ed.): Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch - Selected Writings and Speeches of the Founding Father of the Cooperatives , Berlin 2008, page 20 f., ISBN 978-3-941362-01-7

[8] Walther G. Oschilewski : Will and Action. The way of the German consumer cooperative movement. , Hamburg 1953, page 24 f.

[9] Burchard Bösche and Frederik Korf: Chronicle of the German consumer cooperatives - 150 years of consumer cooperatives in Germany - 100 years of the Central Association of German Consumer Cooperatives. V. (PDF; 178 kB), accessed on November 26, 2019

[10] Chronicle of the ZdK with pictures ( Memento from December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF - 1.7 MB)

[11] Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 55.

[12] The archivists of the district of Eilenburg (ed.): The archives of the district of Eilenburg , undated (before 1990), page 7 ff.

[13] Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 70.

[14] Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 58.

[15] Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 59.

[16] Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 51.

[Seite_60-17] Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 60.

[18] Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers Buchdruckerei und Verlag, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 61.

[19] Otto Ruhmer: Cooperative and Social Library Volume 1 - History of the origins of the German cooperative system , Johs. Krögers printing and publishing house, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937, p. 62.