Christian Gottfried Becker

Portrait bust Christian Gottfried Becker ( Schloßbergmuseum Chemnitz )

Christian Gottfried Becker (born September 2, 1771 in Oberlichtenau ; † October 23, 1820 in Chemnitz ) was the first major industrialist in Chemnitz and played a key role in Chemnitz becoming the “Saxon Manchester ”. His social commitment to the poor was particularly exemplary during the famine of 1816/1817 (see: Year Without a Summer ), when he bought large quantities of grain in Poland and made them available or given away at moderate prices.

Live and act

As the son of pastor Christian Gottfried Becker sen. (Born December 30, 1739 in Chemnitz; † April 27, 1793 in Mittweida ) and his wife Johanne Christiane Bendikta Becker, née Glauch (born April 29, 1752 in Wippra ; † November 3, 1793 in Mittweida), Becker went for a commercial Independent training in Dresden in 1795. Two years later he founded the Becker & Schraps company together with Weber Schraps. In 1802 he founded a calico printing company , which by 1810 developed into one of the three largest in Chemnitz. In 1811, after the privileges of the first Chemnitz spinning mills ( Bernhard and Wöhler & Lange ) had expired , he built a cotton spinning mill powered by water power. At times he employed 2500 workers and thus almost a quarter of the population of Chemnitz. He died of heart disease at the age of 49.

As a thank you, the people of Chemnitz erected a bronze monument to Christian Gottfried Becker on his 100th birthday in 1871, which formed the center of the Beckerplatz that was named after him . It was dismantled and melted down as a war metal donation in the early 1940s.

Family relationships

A brother of Christian Gottfried Becker was Friedrich Wilhelm Becker (born January 4, 1773 in Oberlichtenau , † October 21, 1847 in Kiev ). He too came from Saxony and worked as a teacher and later professor of Roman literature - first in the Baltic States and then in the Ukraine . His wife was Anna Margarethe Friederike Becker, born von Hueck (born July 4, 1788 in Reval ( Tallinn ), † October 30, 1847 in Kiev). Friedrich Wilhelm Becker had three sons:

Paul Adam von Becker ( Paula Modersohn-Becker's grandfather), professor and director of the French Lycée Richelieu in Odessa
Wilhelm Gustav Becker ( Russian Василий Васильевич Беккер ) (1811–1874), doctor
Friedrich Woldemar Adam Becker (1825–1848), lawyer His son Carl Woldemar was an engineer by profession and the father of the painter Paula Modersohn-Becker.

literature

Constantin von Wurzbach : Becker, Christ. Godfr. . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 01. part. University printing house L. C. Zamarski (formerly JP Sollinger), Vienna 1856, p. 216 ( digitized version ).
Karl Lamprecht: Becker, Christian Gottfried . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 220 f.
Wolfgang Uhlmann : Christian Gottfried Becker , in: Mitteilungen des Chemnitzer Geschichtsverein, 63rd Yearbook, New Series II (1994), pp. 23-29.

Individual evidence

↑ She was the daughter of August Benedict Glauch (born May 12, 1709), the later pastor in Wippra near Sangerhausen, Merseburg.
^ The Anckelmann family in Hamburg and Leipzig scholars, councilors and merchants. Part 2, as of March 23, 2006, 3rd improved and expanded edition, p. 100 ( online as PDF; 1 MB).
^ FO Spamer: Illustrierte Konversations-Lexikon: comparative reference book for the daily Gebranch. House treasure for the German people and "Orbis pictus" for the student youth ... Otto Spamer, 1872 ( column 550 ).
↑ The couple had four daughters Johanna Christiana Becker, Dorothe Sophia Jahn, Amalie Concordia Petzold, Gottliebe Wilhelmine Doerstling and five other sons Friedrich Wilhelm Becker, August Benedikt Becker, Gottlob Leberecht Becker, Gotthilf Theodor Becker, Carl Hinrich Becker.
^ Wilhelm Heinrich von Kurrer: History of the stuff printing company, the associated machines and auxiliary tools and the inventions in the field of coloring for cotton, linen, silk and sheep's wool printing up to the most recent times. JL Schrag, Nuremberg 1844, p. 40.
↑ The first wife and mother of Paula's father, Carl Woldemar Becker, was Elise Wilhelmine Becker, née Dörstling (born February 10, 1818 Chemnitz ; † January 16, 1844 Odessa ). The two married in Vienna on May 25, 1838. His wife is a first cousin , because the mother of his wife, Gottliebe Wilhelmine Doerstling, née Becker (born August 10, 1790 in Mittweida ; June 6, 1855 in Chemnitz) was one Daughter of the Chemnitz textile manufacturer Christian Gottfried Becker, who is the brother of the father of Paul Adam von Becker ( nepotism )
↑ Biographical data in the personal database Scientific relations in the 19th century between Germany and Russia in the fields of chemistry, pharmacy and medicine of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig
^ Friedrich Wilhelm Becker in the Erik Amburger database. Institute for East and Southeast European Studies.
^ Barbara Beuys: Paula Modersohn-Becker. Or: when art is life. TB 3419, Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-458-35119-1 , p. 9 f., Excerpt (PDF; 294 kB).

personal data
SURNAME	Becker, Christian Gottfried
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German textile manufacturer
DATE OF BIRTH	September 2, 1771
PLACE OF BIRTH	Oberlichtenau , Chemnitz
DATE OF DEATH	October 23, 1820
Place of death	Chemnitz

[Mutter-1] She was the daughter of August Benedict Glauch (born May 12, 1709), the later pastor in Wippra near Sangerhausen, Merseburg.

[Anckelmann-2] The Anckelmann family in Hamburg and Leipzig scholars, councilors and merchants. Part 2, as of March 23, 2006, 3rd improved and expanded edition, p. 100 ( online as PDF; 1 MB).

[Konversationslexikon-3] FO Spamer: Illustrierte Konversations-Lexikon: comparative reference book for the daily Gebranch. House treasure for the German people and "Orbis pictus" for the student youth ... Otto Spamer, 1872 ( column 550 ).

[Geschwister-4] The couple had four daughters Johanna Christiana Becker, Dorothe Sophia Jahn, Amalie Concordia Petzold, Gottliebe Wilhelmine Doerstling and five other sons Friedrich Wilhelm Becker, August Benedikt Becker, Gottlob Leberecht Becker, Gotthilf Theodor Becker, Carl Hinrich Becker.

[Becker_und_Schraps-5] Wilhelm Heinrich von Kurrer: History of the stuff printing company, the associated machines and auxiliary tools and the inventions in the field of coloring for cotton, linen, silk and sheep's wool printing up to the most recent times. JL Schrag, Nuremberg 1844, p. 40.

[6] The first wife and mother of Paula's father, Carl Woldemar Becker, was Elise Wilhelmine Becker, née Dörstling (born February 10, 1818 Chemnitz ; † January 16, 1844 Odessa ). The two married in Vienna on May 25, 1838. His wife is a first cousin , because the mother of his wife, Gottliebe Wilhelmine Doerstling, née Becker (born August 10, 1790 in Mittweida ; June 6, 1855 in Chemnitz) was one Daughter of the Chemnitz textile manufacturer Christian Gottfried Becker, who is the brother of the father of Paul Adam von Becker ( nepotism )

[7] Biographical data in the personal database Scientific relations in the 19th century between Germany and Russia in the fields of chemistry, pharmacy and medicine of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig

[8] Friedrich Wilhelm Becker in the Erik Amburger database. Institute for East and Southeast European Studies.

[9] Barbara Beuys: Paula Modersohn-Becker. Or: when art is life. TB 3419, Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-458-35119-1 , p. 9 f., Excerpt (PDF; 294 kB).