Bergische Chamber of Industry and Commerce Wuppertal-Solingen-Remscheid

The main building of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Wuppertal-Solingen-Remscheid in Wuppertal - Elberfeld

The Bergische Chamber of Industry and Commerce Wuppertal-Solingen-Remscheid , unofficially until December 31, 2018 and officially designated as the Bergische IHK from January 1, 2019 , sees itself as representing the interests of the entire commercial economy in the Bergisch city triangle (consisting of the three major cities of Wuppertal , Solingen and Remscheid with a total of around 625,000 inhabitants).

It is part of the network of chambers of industry and commerce represented throughout Germany . The umbrella organization is the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK).

The Remscheid-based entrepreneur Thomas Meyer has been the honorary president of the IHK since May 16, 2013 . He succeeded Friedhelm Sträter , who was President of the Bergische IHK for 16 years, and was re-elected in 2017. Michael Wenge is the general manager.

Structure and tasks

Its structure and tasks are based on the federal law for the provisional regulation of the law of the chambers of industry and commerce . All commercial companies are in their compulsory member. The most important discussion and decision-making body is the plenary assembly, which consists of 80 representatives from the various branches of industry, elected by the members. You design the guidelines of the IHK work, determine the IHK positions on current economic policy issues and determine the amount of the contributions. In addition, the General Assembly elects the President and seven Vice-Presidents from among its ranks.

One of the most important tasks of the IHK is the organization of the vocational training system.

The Chamber of Industry and Commerce W-SG-RS recently passed a resolution calling on the politicians of the three large Bergisch cities to coordinate and work more closely for the good of the region. This is particularly important because of the dire financial situation of these municipalities.

The public appointment and swearing-in of experts is one of the main tasks of the IHK. In the area of financial real estate valuation, however, this has largely been replaced by the EU personal certification standard according to DIN ISO EN 17024.

The IHK building

IHK building at the Alexanderbrücke

The building of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (officially: Municipal Administration Building) is in Wuppertal on the banks of the Iceland at the Alexander Bridge. It was designed by the architect Peter Klotzbach and the government master builder Paul Fliether and built in 1928/29. An extension with the same architecture was added in the south-east in 1935/36, so that a U-shaped building ensemble has now been created.

It has been a listed building since November 12, 1986 .

history

Historical course

Chamber
of Commerce of Elberfeld and Barmen
1831–1871

Barmen Chamber of Commerce
1871–1917

Chamber of Commerce
in Elberfeld
1871–1917

Chamber of Commerce for the
Wuppertal industrial district
1917–1929

Bergische Chamber of Industry and Commerce
Wuppertal-Remscheid
1929–1943

Chamber of Commerce Solingen
1841–1977

Wuppertal Chamber of Commerce
1945–1977

Chamber of Commerce Remscheid
1840–1929 and 1945–1977

Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Wuppertal-Solingen-Remscheid
1977–2018

Bergische Chamber of Industry and Commerce
Wuppertal-Solingen-Remscheid
since 2019

The starting formation of today's Bergisch IHK was the "Chamber of Commerce of Elberfeld and Barmen", which is generally considered to be the first modern chamber of commerce in Germany, namely based on the principle of self-government of the economy. The president was democratically elected by all local merchants who had to pay more than 12 thalers business tax annually. In contrast, for example, the chambers in the former French Rhine provinces were institutions that were assigned to the city administrations. The first draft statutes for the Wuppertal Chamber came mainly from the textile manufacturer Johann Adolf von Carnap . The self-governing status was only achieved after a few setbacks and delays. For example, the Lord Mayor of Elberfeld Brüning tried to prevent an independent chamber by intervening with the Interior Minister. A complete elimination of the Lord Mayor was "completely incompatible with his official position of a head of this city." The statutes of the Wuppertal Chamber were in June 1830 by King Friedrich Wilhelm III. approved. In the period that followed, the new model was initially binding for the Rhine Province , for example in Düsseldorf and Duisburg, and later for all of Prussia.

Starting from this, there were various intermediate stages, separations and associations, the development to today's chamber of the three Bergischen cities.

List of presidents of the Chamber of Commerce

The IHK in the foreground seen from the Sparkasse skyscraper

The entrance to the IHK

In 2008 a restaurant was set up in the building

President of the Chamber of Commerce of Elberfeld and Barmen
January 1831 - January 1834	Johann Heinrich Daniel Kamp (1786-1853)
January 1834 - April 1840	Heinrich Feldmann-Simons (1787–1865)
April 1834 - January 1847	Carl Hecker (1795–1873)
January 1847 - June 1847	Caspar Wilhelm Meckel (1790-1852)
June 1847 - October 1849	Johann Jacob Julius Möller (1793–1877)
October 1849 - January 1856	Friedrich Wilhelm Simons-Köhler (1802-1856)
January 1856 - June 1871	Jacob Wilhelm Haarhaus (1798–1881)
President of the Barmen Chamber of Commerce
July 1871 - September 1884	Friedrich Wilhelm Osterroth (1815–1884)
September 1884 - February 1893	Friedrich von Eynern jun. (1834-1893)
March 1893 - August 1906	Philipp Barthels (1838–1906)
September 1906 - March 1917	Max Albert Molineus (1855-1925)
President of the Elberfeld Chamber of Commerce
July 1871 - May 1874	Wilhelm Meckel Jr. (1815-1879)
May 1874 - December 1875	Friedrich Wilhelm Strücker (1816–1884)
January 1876 - April 1879	Wilhelm Meckel Jr. (1815-1879)
May 1879 - November 1884	Friedrich Wilhelm Strücker (1816–1884)
January 1885 - March 1898	August Schoeller (1836–1911)
April 1898 - May 1906	Wilhelm Boeddinghaus jr. (1837–1906)
June 1906 - November 1911	Johann Carl August Jung (1842–1911)
January 1912 - March 1917	Heinrich Ernst Schniewind (1842–1928)
President of the Chamber of Commerce for the Wuppertal industrial district
April 1917 - December 1919	Max Albert Molineus (1855-1925)
January 1920 - December 1922	Ernst Meyer-Leverkus (1863–1942)
January 1923 - December 1929	Rudolf Ziersch (1867–1962)
President of the Bergische Chamber of Industry and Commerce Wuppertal-Remscheid
January 1930 - April 1933	Rudolf Ziersch (1867–1962)
April 1933 - June 1933	Franz Paul Hager (1894–1934)
July 1933 - March 1943	Friedrich Wachs (1892–1963)
President of the Solingen Chamber of Commerce and Industry
1841-1845	Carl August Schnitzler (1794–1861)
1845-1850	Carl Gustav Weyersberg (1798–1865)
1850-1851	Carl August Schnitzler (1794–1861)
1851-1856	Johann Ferdinand Wilhelm Jagenberg (?)
1856-1863	Carl Gustav Weyersberg (1798–1865)
1863-1867	Friedrich Neeff (?)
1867-1868	Carl Weyersberg (?)
1868-1872	Otto Maußner (?)
1872-1877	August Neeff (?)
1877-1878	Gustav Coppel (1830-1914)
1879-1905	Albert Schnitzler (1838–1906)
1905-1918	Fritz Beckmann (1850-1918)
1918-1932	Carl Duisberg (1861-1935)
1933-1934	Hermann Theodor Wuppermann (1869–1941)
1934-1938	Erich Hartkopf (?)
1938-1943	Paul Beckmann (1881–1963)
1945-1947	Erwin Krusius (?)
1947-1954	Wilhelm Gilgen-Quadt (1903–)
1954-1952	Eugen Fervers (1895–1962)
1962-1967	Friedrich Silcher (1906–1995)
1967-1977	Hans-Robert Grah (1911–1998)
President of the Remscheid Chamber of Commerce and Industry
1840-1849	Johann Gottfried Kirberg (1793–1849)
1849-1856	Johann Daniel Engels (1795–)
1856-1865	Peter Schürmann (1816–1873)
1865-1871	Friedrich Wilhelm Hilger (1816–1874)
1871-1876	Johann Daniel Fuhrmann (1810–1885)
1876-1883	Hermann Schröder (1818–1886)
1883-1888	Reinhard Kotthaus (1828–)
1888-1893	Arnold Wilhelm Hardt jun. (1843-1897)
1893-1897	Hermann Böker (1844–)
1897-1911	Wilhelm Kattwinkel (1842–)
1911-1915	Alfred Honsberg (1864–)
1915-1919	Emil Schröder (?)
1919-1923	Moritz Böker (1853-1933)
1923-1929	Adolf von der Nahmer (1866–1939)
1945–1962	Christian Heinrich Wolf (1892–1962)
1962-1968	Hans Vaillant (1904–1978)
1968-1974	Wolfgang Busch (?)
1974-1977	Günter Schöpp (1928-2014)
President of the Wuppertal Chamber of Commerce and Industry
1945-1959	Wilhelm Vorwerk (1889–1967)
1959-1964	Max Kretschmann (1890–1972)
1964-1970	Harald Frowein (1900–1978)
1970-1977	Walter Salzer (1911–1978)
President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Wuppertal-Solingen-Remscheid
1977-1985	Georg Kroll (1922-2015)
1985-1997	Jörg Mittelsten Scheid (* 1936)
1997-2013	Friedhelm Sträter (* 1950)
2013-2018	Thomas Meyer (* 1955)
President of the Bergisch Chamber of Commerce and Industry Wuppertal-Solingen-Remscheid
2019–	Thomas Meyer (* 1955)

literature

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Wuppertal 1831–1956 (commemorative publication for the 125th anniversary on January 17, 1956) , Wuppertal 1956
Reinhard Thom: Bergische entrepreneurs in self-administration. For their 125th anniversary ed. from D. Bergischen Industrie- u. Remscheid Chamber of Commerce . Remscheid 1965
Bergische Wirtschaft Anniversary PDF file Festschrift for the 175th anniversary of June 2005