August Wilhelm Homeyer

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August Wilhelm Homeyer (born December 30, 1793 in Wolgast ; † November 4, 1856 there ) was a German merchant, shipowner and secret councilor . He played a decisive role in the economic boom in the city of Wolgast in the 19th century and shaped the view of the Wolgast port with his granaries.

Life

August Wilhelm Homeyer was the son of the Wolgast merchant and shipowner Johann Friedrich Homeyer (1753-1818) and his wife Sophie Dorothea (1761-1803), daughter of the Wolgast archdeacon Paul Martin Droysen. When the father and the children went into exile in Gothenburg in 1806 because of the threatened occupation of Swedish Pomerania , August Wilhelm had to complete the schooling he had started in Wolgast and then received commercial training in the father's newly founded business. In 1817, he sent him on an educational trip to Rotterdam , Amsterdam , Brussels , Paris and London . In addition to the goal of gaining commercial experience, he used the opportunity to make contacts for future business. When the news of his father's death reached him in London in 1818, he returned to Wolgast to take over the business, and on August 4, 1818, he became a citizen of the city.

Since he wanted to pay his siblings their shares as quickly as possible and his father had decreed in his will that 250 thalers a year from the interest on a capital of 5000 thalers that had to be kept in the business, he soon began to develop new sources of income. He had herring salting plants built on the coasts of Pomerania and Rügen and traded in iron goods. Numerous Volgastians were active on his ships and in fish processing. In 1825 he established important trade relations with Rio de Janeiro for the city of Wolgast . The grain trade remained the main source of income. In the 1840s and 1850s, the export of grain from Pomerania to Great Britain and North America was so extensive that at times the Wolgast grain prices were listed on the New York City Stock Exchange. In return, Homeyer imported iron and coal.

In 1835 he had what was then the most modern half-timbered storage facility in the Baltic Sea region built near the port . This stood on 95 wooden posts and had a base area of ​​18 by 80 meters. The building, equipped with a sundeck , held 5000 tons of grain and was used until the end of the 20th century - it was one of the city's landmarks. The storage building, which is considered the largest of its kind in northern Germany, was destroyed by fire in 2006. Homeyer bought the remains of the ducal palace from the city of Wolgast in 1843 , had them demolished and another large granary built on the palace island , some of which existed until 1938.

In 1845 he acquired the run-down manors Ranzin and Oldenburg near Züssow . In the district of Ranzin, he had a Vorwerk laid out in 1848 , which was named Wilhelmshöh after him. His son Friedrich , who had studied agriculture in Scotland , later took over the Ranzin estate and turned it into a model business.

August Wilhelm Homeyer , who was appointed Kommerzienrat in 1841, proved to be a benefactor of the city far beyond what his father had ordered . Among other things, he had donated large amounts in 1833 for the construction of the city poor house and in 1843 for the redesign of the ramparts. When unrest broke out in Wolgast in 1848, the angry and sometimes marauding crowd remembered it and spared him and his property. In 1853 Homeyer was appointed secret councilor of commerce. He did not live to see the completion of the Wolgast high school, which he supported with 5000 thalers, in October 1858. This was named "Wilhelmschule" in his honor.

family

He married Wilhelmine von Schubert, a daughter of the licentinspector Ernst Konstantin von Schubert . The couple had nine children including:

⚭ Cecilie Borries (8 September 1827 - 17 January 1853)
⚭ 1856 Pauline von Wedel († April 30, 1873)
⚭ 1878 Juliane Marie Adelheid von Hinüber (* April 8, 1851; † June 15, 1922).

literature

  • Ines Kakoschke: Wolgast family portraits. The Homeyers. In: Festschrift 750 Years of the City of Wolgast 1257–2007. History and stories from our city. City of Wolgast (Ed.) 2007, p. 97f.
  • Pomeranian historical monuments , volumes 3–4, p.170

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volgast official messenger (PDF; 311 kB)
  2. ↑ https://www.usedom-exclusiv.de/198/historie-geschichte-insel-usedom/lös-wolgaster-wahrzeichen.html
  3. ↑ Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der Briefadeligen houses 1913. Seventh year, p.366

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Homeyer, August Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Homeyer, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German merchant, shipowner and secret councilor of commerce
DATE OF BIRTH December 30, 1793
PLACE OF BIRTH Wolgast
DATE OF DEATH November 4, 1856
Place of death Wolgast