Christoph Friedrich Leers

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Portrait of Christoph Friedrich Leers
The Leers' orphanage in the Bayreuth district of
St. Georgen (Bernecker Str. 11)
Grave of the Leers family in the St. Georgen cemetery

Christoph Friedrich Leers (* 12. June 1769 in Wunsiedel , † 14. September 1825 in Bayreuth ) was a German merchant, producer and magistrate of the city of Bayreuth. He gained fame primarily through his social commitment. During his lifetime, Leers promoted, among other things, the welfare of the poor in Bayreuth and was involved in the founding of several charitable organizations. He designated his estate as a foundation for the establishment of the Leers orphanage. The orphanage library is the oldest known and still existing children's and youth library in Bayreuth.

Life

Christoph Friedrich Leers came from a family with Dutch origins; he himself was born in the city of Wunsiedel as the son of the merchant, mayor and hospital administrator Georg Christoph Leers. A strict and godly upbringing was important to the father, who owned a factory in Bayreuth. Christoph Friedrich regularly spent his free time at his father's desk doing arithmetic and writing. He spent two years with his father's brother, who owned a factory in Gera , from 1784 until he began training with the merchant Haas in Hamburg and successfully completed it.

He started his business in Bayreuth trading yarn . Later he also traded in paper and shipped it to Saxony on a large scale . Following the acquisition of the paternal plant he managed through direct contracts with producers of cloth made of cotton a clear economic upswing. He was able to employ several hundred workers. In 1806 he bought a run-down faience and earthenware factory in what is now the St. Georgen district of Bayreuth . Despite the outbreak of war in 1806, which was associated with billeting and other burdens for the new company located directly on Heerstrasse , this start was also successful. Young people of the area were thoroughly trained in turning, drawing, and molding, and were involved in the manufacture of Wedgwoodware and other products. The commercial activity of Leers was guided by the intention to offer his workers a secure livelihood. Leers also showed commitment to the needy. When competing companies later narrowed the market, Leers, who felt obliged to the families of his workers, did not make any layoffs.

Leers participated to a large extent in public life, connected with the establishment and management of public and social institutions. He waived his entitlement to a salary several times. When the social welfare system was reorganized , he was appointed poor welfare council in 1816. He managed the newly founded "Poor Employment Institution" and helped the city hospital with acquisitions. Leers was a member of a poor commission made up of "respectable men of all classes", which bought foreign grain at its own expense to alleviate the famine in 1816 and 1817. For his services he was honored in 1818 with the golden civil merit medal, which was presented to him by the Council of State, General Commissioner and District President Freiherr von Welden at his request without any major celebrations . Leers got involved with financial donations beyond the city limits of Bayreuth. B. for the institutes for the blind in Erfurt and Nuremberg . Occasionally, it promoted the upbringing of poor children and enabled young people to train or study. Together with the then Dean of Bayreuth, Ludwig Pflaum, he took care of the printing and the inexpensive sale of the New Testament , which was quickly sold in three editions.

He was elected twice to the magistrate's council. From 1818 he managed the Gravenreuther Stift and the St. Georgen Order Church free of charge . He was also involved in founding the city school for the poor , a grain magazine, the savings bank (1823) and a loan and pawn shop that was supposed to counter the emerging usury.

Leers himself lived rather meagerly. He died unexpectedly without a long sick bed of ascites on September 14, 1825. Since the marriage to Marianne Katharina Rose (* October 4, 1764, † December 22, 1832 in Bayreuth), daughter of a Bayreuth wine merchant, had remained childless, the couple already had In 1821 poor orphans were given a will. The ornaments of the tomb, including the butterfly and the torches entwined with snakes , are clear indications that Leers belonged to the Freemasons .

The inscription reads:

“Rest gently in this silent grave. Harvest now transfigured before God's throne, where to put-away walking stick your pious seeds joy wage "

  • Inscription of the tomb

  • Ornament of a butterfly on the grave complex

  • Inscription on the Leers orphanage

legacy

Leers' orphanage

The Leers Foundation for Poor Orphans planned to build an orphanage in which six boys and six girls would find a home. The equipment included land with fields and meadows. With an increase in the start-up capital of 31,200  florins , an increase in the number of places was planned. In the will, additional amounts were determined for scholarships and to support social, medical and school institutions.

The orphanage was initially housed in the right wing of the castle of St. Georgen . In 1901, a new building was built in place of the Leers family home at Bernecker Strasse 11, which has been preserved to this day.

In 1914 four boys and four girls were housed in the orphanage; in 1921 there were still five pupils. As a result of the First World War and the subsequent inflation , the foundation's assets were so depleted that it was no longer possible to maintain the children's home and the building. So from 1919 the house was left for further use by the city of Bayreuth, which finally acquired it in 1958. The house was used in various ways, initially as a nursery (1919–1932), rental apartments (1932–1958), day care center and children's home (1951–1967) and a day care center and special school (1967–1975). Today it is u. a. Seat of the German Typewriter Museum. Only a few meters away is Leersstrasse, which is named in honor of Christoph Friedrich Leers.

Library of the Leers orphanage

Leers'sche children's and youth library, today located in the Bayreuth University Library

According to the executor's inventory from 1833, part of the foundation was a library consisting of 187 titles and 322 volumes. According to the deed of foundation from 1821, it was intended to be used by the foster parents together with the orphans under the guidance of the religious preacher. The book collection came closed in 1995 via the Bayreuth City Library as a permanent loan to the Bayreuth University Library . The owner is the foundation office of the city of Bayreuth, which manages the remains of the Leers'schen foundation to this day.

In the work of Rainer-Maria Kiel, the book inventory and its historical embedding are of particular importance: The books are shaped by the spirit of philanthropism . Among the previous owners of individual books was the well-known pedagogue Johann Baptist Graser , who knew Leers personally and was on friendly terms with him. The composition of the books reflects the educational ideas that prevailed. Common training practice took place in the citizen schools should be prepared for where artisanal or commercial jobs. Friedrich Christoph Leers was extremely progressive by setting up a library for children and young people by German standards. The selection of numerous books from the religious field can be judged as liberal. A high proportion of the books belonged to the children's and youth literature of the time. Other books served general education (German, natural sciences, mathematics, geography). A small group of books on fruit growing and agriculture appear to be linked to the idea of ​​the school garden .

  • Entries from Leers as the owner of one of the books

  • Excerpt from the book inventory

  • Close-up with markings on the covers

literature

  • Carl Burger: Christoph Friedrich Leers (...) . In: New Nekrolog der Deutschen . 3rd year 1825, 2nd issue, Ilmenau 1827, pp. 960–968.
  • Johann Gottlieb Reuter, Johann Adam Neupert: Mourning speech at the funeral of the former Mr. Christ. Fried. Leers, magistrate council of the district capital Baireuth and factory owner of St. Georgen held in the local parish and order church on September 17, 1825 . Birner. Bayreuth 1825.
  • The opening and inauguration of the City Council Leersische Orphan Asylum in St. Georgen on June 12, the second Sunday after Trinity, 1836 . Bayreuth 1836. (Copy from the University of Bayreuth 45 / NS 2580 H143 E7)
  • Wilhelm Kneule: Church history of the city of Bayreuth . Vol. 2. Commissioned by Verlag Degener, Neustadt (Aisch) 1973, p. 141 f. and 150. (Individual works from the church history of Bavaria, vol. 50)
  • Rainer-Maria Kiel: The library of the Leers orphanage: Bayreuth's oldest children's and youth library . In: Archive for the history of Upper Franconia . Volume 77. Historischer Verein für Oberfranken , Bayreuth 1997. pp. 429–448; ( Entry in the Fabian manual online)
  • Sabine Lang: Tradition, progress, trust. 175 years of Stadtsparkasse Bayreuth 1823–1998 . Stadtsparkasse Bayreuth 1998.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Burger, p. 960.
  2. ^ Karl Sitzmann : Artists and craftsmen in Eastern Franconia . Kulmbach 1957, p. 340.
  3. ↑ Burger, p. 961.
  4. ↑ Burger, p. 966.
  5. ↑ Burger, p. 964f.
  6. ↑ Burger, p. 965.
  7. ↑ Burger, p. 966f.
  8. ^ History of the Bayreuth deanery. ( Memento from August 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) By Rev. Thomas Bayer on the homepage of: Evangelical Lutheran Dean's District Bayreuth. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  9. ↑ William Kneule: Church history of the city of Bayreuth . 2nd volume. Pp. 2-6.
  10. ↑ The Holy Scriptures of the New Testament . Birner. Bayreuth 1822 (1st edition), 1823 (2nd edition).
  11. ↑ Burger, p. 967.
  12. ↑ Obituary in the Bayreuther Zeitung from September 15, 1826
  13. ^ August Gebeßler : City and district of Bayreuth . The Art Monuments of Bavaria , Brief Inventories , VI. Band . German art publisher . Munich 1959. p. 21.
  14. ↑ Christoph Rabenstein, Ronald Werner: St. Georgen - Pictures and History (s). Bayreuth 1994. p. 93.
  15. ^ Announcement of the foundation in the government gazette for the Kingdom of Bavaria
  16. ^ Rainer-Maria Kiel: The library of the Leers' orphanage: Bayreuth's oldest children's and youth library . In: Archives for the history of Upper Franconia . Volume 77. Bayreuth 1997. pp. 429-448.
  17. ↑ This is also evidenced by a dedication in Johann Baptist Graser's book: The first child lesson, the first child torment (...) . Bayreuth and Hof 1819.
  18. ↑ in the book inventory of the children's and youth library is Graser's Die Elementarschule fürs Leben from 1818 with a handwritten dedication from Graser to Leers: "Herr Fabriquanten / Friedrich Leers / his dearly honored friend / to the memorial heartfelt / friendship / from / author / Bayr. the 26th / July 1818. / JB Graser "

Web links

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This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on February 22, 2012 .
personal data
SURNAME Leers, Christoph Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Founder of the Leer'schen orphanage including library, councilor and manufacturer
DATE OF BIRTH June 12, 1769
PLACE OF BIRTH Wunsiedel
DATE OF DEATH September 14, 1825
Place of death Bayreuth