Elinor from Opel

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Eleonore "Elinor" Sigrid Else von Opel (born March 21, 1908 in Rüsselsheim ; † January 1, 2001 in St. Gallen ) was a German-Swiss founder from the Opel family . She was the granddaughter of the Opel company founder Adam Opel and the mother of Gunter Sachs and Ernst Wilhelm Sachs . Her first marriage was to the industrialist Willy Sachs , and her second marriage to the businessman Carlo Kirchner.

Life

First years

Elinor von Opel came as the daughter of the industrialist and secret councilor Dr. Wilhelm von Opel (* 1871; † 1948) and his wife Marta Bade (* 1874; † 1961) in Rüsselsheim. There she spent a large part of her childhood. The rocket pioneer Fritz von Opel was her brother.

First marriage

Mainberg Castle on the Main

In 1925, at the age of 17, Elinor von Opel married the Schweinfurt industrialist Willy Sachs . His father Ernst Sachs was a friend of their father. With him she had the son Ernst Wilhelm Sachs at Mainberg Castle in 1929 and the son Gunter Sachs in 1932 . But she is not happy in the marriage and is not very enthusiastic about the new way of dealing with her husband, greats of the NSDAP . At the request of her husband to see Mrs. Himmler , she exclaimed indignantly: “This cleaning lady won't come into my house!”. The increasing breakdown of the marriage culminated in Elinor's departure. In 1935 she filed for divorce and soon after the divorce took her maiden name again.

Escape to Switzerland

Because of the custody of their sons, a bitter argument arose with their ex-husband in 1935. Willy Sachs was granted custody of the two sons. Elinor von Opel then gave a disrespectful interview about her divorce, in which she also expressed her aversion to the National Socialists. Immediately after the interview appeared, a doctor friend advised her to flee to Switzerland with the children. Willy Sachs then turned to his hunting friends Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Göring , who sent a group of SS men after them. Elinor von Opel was arrested shortly after the Liechtenstein border.

However, the Swiss police intervened and Elinor von Opel was taken to the Quisisana widow's home. From there, she tried to legalize the sons' entry into Switzerland in a legal process. The sons and their maid came to the Plankis orphanage near Chur for a few months , then son Ernst Wilhelm had to return to Germany. Son Gunter came to her. A short time later, Ernst Wilhelm also came to his mother, so that after three months the two brothers were finally able to stay in Switzerland.

Because he absolutely wanted to have his older son Ernst Wilhelm with him, the abandoned father resorted to extreme measures and called on his other hunting friend, the Gestapo chief Heydrich . In his Berlin office there should have been a real "kidnapping floor" for the purpose of repatriating the Sachs offspring . Heydrich had every reason to be obliged to Willy Sachs. At the suggestion of Lina Heydrich , Willy Sachs has financed her husband a house on Fehmarn for recreation since the Röhm Putsch . While the child abduction failed thanks to vigilant Swiss citizens, in 1941 the court ordered that the older son be released. But the overwhelmed father sent Ernst Wilhelm Sachs back to his mother in Switzerland after a year.

At home in Switzerland since 1935, Elinor von Opel spent a few weeks in Rüsselsheim every summer. However, the National Socialists had blocked their assets in Germany. An emigrated German lawyer friend of hers lent her money during the Second World War. This enabled her and her sons to live in Switzerland during the war years. She let her sons attend boarding school on the Rosenberg in St. Gallen. Gunter Sachs stated in an interview in 2008 that his father probably never sent money during this time, and that he did not see him again until he was 19.

Grandson Rolf

After her first daughter-in-law died in hospital in 1958 after a minor car accident due to a mistake in a routine operation, Elinor von Opel relieved her son Gunter in his role as a single father. She looked after her grandson Rolf Sachs “with her own energy” . Her son Gunter usually visited his son on weekends. Later he went to a boarding school in Lausanne , where Gunter Sachs lived at the time. Shaped by her experiences in this regard, Elinor von Opel was afraid of possible kidnapping attempts. Therefore, it was very important to her that no photos of her grandchildren appear in the press.

Second marriage

In 1963 she married the Schweinfurt merchant Carlo Kirchner (* 1894). He was a friend of her ex-husband, who in 1958 committed suicide in a very depressed state. In 1977 her son Ernst Wilhelm was killed in an avalanche accident in Val-d'Isère . 1979 her husband Carlo Kirchner died in Königstein im Taunus .

Last years

Opel mausoleum in Rüsselsheim

According to Gunter Sachs, Elinor von Opel managed her assets herself until her death. She even bought shares on the stock exchange on her own, "and not badly at all." Her iron principle was there: one third real estate, one third shares, one third bonds. Elinor Kirchner von Opel lived the last years of his life in a city apartment in St. Gallen. She died on New Year's Day 2001 at the age of 92 and was buried on January 5th in the Opel mausoleum near the Opel factory in Rüsselsheim. This occupied the last free burial chamber. Grandson Rolf gave the funeral oration.

Foundations

On the 100th anniversary of her famous grandfather's death in 1995, she decided to set up a foundation with the aim of promoting committed young people from Rüsselsheim. This foundation with a capital of one million D-Marks was named "Elinor Kirchner von Opel Foundation". It provides up to 20,000 euros annually for individuals, groups or projects that are committed to the community in relation to the city of Rüsselsheim. However, she was unable to come to the first award ceremony in 1998 because of the stress of traveling.

There is also the "Elinor-Kirchner-von-Opel-und-Gunter-Sachs Foundation", which has existed since 1993 and is based in Vaz / Obervaz, Switzerland . The foundation would like to contribute to the promotion of a healthy mix of the local population according to occupational, social and age groups. For this purpose, it is committed to the procurement of inexpensive apartments for people who want to take up permanent residence in the municipality of Vaz / Obervaz or who want to keep it and who are willing to integrate themselves as far as possible into the local community.

Publications

  • Thomas Horling: Privy Councilor and Consul Sachs, in: ders. - Uwe Müller (ed.), Prince & Industrialist. Mainberg Castle in Eight Centuries (Publications of the Historisches Verein Schweinfurt NF Vol. 8 - Mainfränkische Studien Vol. 80), Schweinfurt 2011, pages 421-446, ISBN 978-3-88778-360-0
  • Wilfried Rott: Sachs - entrepreneurs, playboys, millionaires . Blessing, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-89667-270-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Website Elinor Kirchner von Opel Foundation
  2. ^ A b Eleonore Sigrid Else von Opel on thepeerage.com , accessed on August 17, 2015.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g welt.de on January 4, 2001: Elinor Kirchner from Opel is dead
  4. ↑ a b faz.net on October 19, 2005: This cleaning lady does not come into my house
  5. ↑ wz-newsline.de on May 13, 2011: Gunter Sachs: One of the last bon vivants
  6. ↑ a b c d e wiwo.de on September 27, 2008: Playboy legend in an interview: Gunter Sachs about love with Brigitte Bardot
  7. ↑ a b merkur-online.de on May 8th, 2011: Gunter Sachs: Family publishes farewell letter
  8. ↑ wdr.de November 19, 2008: 50 years ago: Willy Sachs shoots women, engines and brown friends
  9. ↑ main-spitze.de on May 10, 2011: Shimmering Opel descendant: Gunter Sachs was a great-grandson of the company's founder  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.main-spitze.de  
  10. ↑ echo-online.de on May 10, 2011: Death of an Opel great-grandson family: Gunter Sachs visited Rüsselsheim for the last time in 2001 - family grave occupied  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective . Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.echo-online.de  
  11. ↑ moneyhouse.ch: Elinor-Kirchner-von-Opel-and-Gunter-Sachs Foundation
personal data
SURNAME Opel, Elinor from
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Opel, Eleonore Sigrid Else von (full name); Elinor Sachs (name from marriage to Willy Sachs, ⚭ 1925, divorce 1935); Elinor Kirchner von Opel (name through marriage to Carlo Kirchner, ⚭ 1963, he died 1979)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Swiss foundation founder
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Ruesselsheim
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 2001
Place of death St. Gallen