August Tonnar
August Tonnar (born August 27, 1827 in Eupen ; † May 24, 1909 ibid) was a German beer brewer , dialect researcher and local poet in Eupen, which was administered by Prussia.
Live and act
August Tonnar was the sixth child of the bread and fruit merchant Arnold Lambert Tonnar and his wife, Maria Elisabeth, née Hoen, and brother of the engineer and entrepreneur Felix Tonnar (1829–1912) who worked in Dülken . August Tonnar, who became an orphan at the age of seven due to the early death of his mother, learned the craft of brewing at various breweries in Mülheim , Erkelenz and Bonn after attending school . He then went on a hike from 1848 to 1849 and deepened his knowledge at large breweries in Munich, Vienna and Budapest as well as in Northern Italy and Switzerland.
After his father had acquired several connected houses on the corner of Hookstraße and Werthplatz in Eupen in 1852, including the 17th century house Werthplatz 2 , later called Haus Tonnar, which was later named Haus Tonnar, August Tonnar initially set up his own brewery there a small restaurant . Just two years later, he expanded the business with a larger restaurant in the same building complex, called "Harmonie", with a garden room, billiards room and bowling alley as well as a cabaret for music and entertainment evenings. Performances by local ensembles and international guests, for example from the Zillertal and Styria, made Tonnar's restaurant a cultural center for Eupen.
From 1859, Tonnar leased his restaurant and devoted himself primarily to his brewery and the development of new brewery machines. Two years later he had his breakthrough and he received in England, Prussia and several other German states, including on July 25, 1861 by the King of Bavaria, Maximilian II Joseph , the patent for a new malting and cleaning machine he had developed . The machine factory in Breslau then received the rights from Tonnar to manufacture 60 machines of this type, the first of which was delivered to the Sedlmayr brewery in Munich, today's Spatenbräu . Later, in 1881, he added a coffee roastery to his own brewery, which was doing well.
In 1867, Tonnar took over the management of his restaurant again and expanded the complex with a large ballroom. Now he was able to offer larger music and theater ensembles on a weekly basis, including, in addition to local groups, the opera and drama ensemble of the Theater Aachens and the music corps of the infantry regiment “von Goeben” (2nd Rheinisches) No. 28 . In addition, Tonnar made his ballroom available as a kind of “adult education center of the 19th century” for the people of Eupen and organized lectures by well-known professors and lecturers on current topics of the time. The highlight of his arrangements was the appearance of a delegation from the Sanger & Barnum Circus in 1885, who pitched their tents on the festival meadow behind the garden hall.
As early as 1870 Tonnar began to write plays, texts, poems, songs and couplets himself and have them performed in his hall. More than 150 individual works came together in the following decades, among them the most famous drama in five acts The End of Stockem's Rule . After he had transferred his entire company to Matthias Joisten in April 1898 for the purpose of a later takeover from 1908 by Tonnar's son-in-law Ferdinand Neuhaus, August Tonnar devoted himself increasingly to the study of the Eupen dialect and in 1899, together with Wilhelm Evers, brought the dictionary of the Eupen language with around 6,000 Keywords in Low German. In 2013, Siegfried Theissen 's New Dictionary of Eupen Dialect brought about a new edition of this work with 10,000 headwords, this time also in High German-Platt. In 1900 and 1902 Tonnar brought out the bound editions of his collected and self-written songs and poems in two volumes in the Eupener Platt.
Until shortly before his death on May 24, 1909, August Tonnar still took part in Eupen's social life. He was married to Sabine Zervais (* 1834) since 1865, with whom he had daughters Sabine (* 1866) and Juliane (* 1868).
August Tonnar belonged to numerous clubs and associations in Eupen, including the trade association and, as an honorary member, the Eupener Turnverein and the Eupener Liedertafel.
A street in Eupen was named after August Tonnar, as well as the old parent company on Werthplatz and the shopping center that was built in its extension in 2000, today renamed Eupen Plaza . In addition, the city of Eupen commemorates him with the August Tonnar plaque, with which personalities are honored who have made a contribution to local and cultural life. In addition, numerous works by Tonnar were performed and broadcast on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death on the BRF broadcaster. Likewise, August Tonnar was remembered among many others at the 800th anniversary of Eupens in 2013 on the BRF station, and at the end of the festivities, his play “Mejspektakel öm 1820” was performed.
Plays
- In the bivouac in Metz , play, Eupen 1870
- The engagements in the cistern , comedy, Eupen 1871
- The 25s in Alsace , drama, Eupen 1873
- En Mejnaht än Öüpen a fröügere Tiet , Lokalposse, Eupen 1881
- The end of Stockem's rule . A city drama in 5 acts, published as a book in 1889. First performances in Eupen on March 13, 20 and 27, 1898
Fonts (selection)
- August Tonnar and Wilhelm Evers: Dictionary of the Eupener language . With comparative language explanations by Wilhelm Altenburg, first edition Carl Braselmann, Eupen 1899, reprinted by M. Sendet, Wiesbaden 1970, ISBN 3-500-21610-2 .
- Leddchere änn Vertellchere än Öüpender Dötsch , Carl Braselmann, Eupen 1900.
- Gedechte än Öupender Dötsch , Carl Braselmann, Eupen 1902.
literature
- Ewald Neuhaus: August Tonnar the Eupen poet , with an insert by Georg Scherdin, Röhrscheid, Bonn 1940
- Leo Hermanns: August Tonnar, trailblazer for cultural life in Eupen , in: Geschichtliches Eupen , Volume XIV, Markus-Verlag, Eupen 1980, pp. 17–37
- Robert Emondts: August Tonnar - Gedächtniswort , in: Eifelkalender 1929 , Eifelverein (Ed.), Stollfuß, Bonn 1925–1955, p. 121/122 ( digitalisat on dilibri.de )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tomb of the Tonnar family
- ^ House Tonnar, Eupen
- ↑ The patented malt drying and cleaning machine from A. Tonnar in Eupen. In: Polytechnisches Journal . 169, 1863, pp. 261-266.
- ^ Commemorative event for August Tonnar in the BRF on September 25, 2009
- ↑ BRF press release on the 800th anniversary of Eupens on April 19, 2013
- ↑ "Mejspektakel öm 1820" after August Tonnar message on grenzecho.net March 14, 2014. Retrieved on December 30, 2015
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Tonnar, August |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German beer brewer, dialect researcher and local poet in Eupen |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 27, 1827 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Eupen |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 24, 1909 |
| Place of death | Eupen |