August Fritzsche

Friedrich Carl August Fritzsche (born January 2, 1816 in Eilenburg ; † December 3, 1902 there ) was the co-founder of the German consumerism and the first consumer cooperative in Germany .

Life

August Fritzsche was born in Eilenburg on January 2, 1816, the son of a gold and silver wire puller from Dresden . He himself learned the bookbinding trade .

Under the influence of the food controls of the years 1847 and 1848, through which many of the Eilenburg factory workers got into existential hardship, Fritzsche asked himself how a permanently affordable supply of food to the city workers could be guaranteed. Influenced by the first cooperative foundations in the United States , which were mentioned in the Eilenburg press, as well as the workers' fraternities emerging in Germany, the food association in Eilenburg was founded on July 12, 1850 as the first consumer cooperative in Germany. Fritzsche is assigned the decisive role in this today. He took on the role of managing director within the cooperative. The city dealers disapproved of the positive development of the new organization, as it meant a considerable loss of sales for them. There was hostility against the Association and Fritzsche personally. As a result, Fritzsche resigned from office. The only nor bad evolving Association was dissolved on 30 July. 1853

In addition to his involvement in the founding of the food association , Fritzsche was a long time member of the board of trustees of the Eilenburg loan association, the first German credit cooperative with solidarity liability. Added to this is Fritzsche's activity as a city representative and poor representative in his residential area since 1852, as well as his involvement in the Landwehr Association and the Rifle Club.

In Heinrich Lersch's novel Die Pioniere von Eilenburg (1934) , the figure of August Fritzsche plays a central role. In recognition of his significant participation in the creation of the first German consumer cooperative, a street in the city center of Eilenburg and Delitzsch was named after him.

literature

• Otto Ruhmer: History of the origins of the German cooperative system. (= Cooperative and social library , volume 1.) Johs. Krögers printing and publishing house, Hamburg-Blankenese 1937.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Uwe Spiekermann: Basis der Konsumgesellschaft - Origins and Development of the Modern Retail Trade in Germany 1850-1914 , Verlag CH Beck , Munich 1999, page 241 f.