Emil Koehn

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Emil Paul Koehn (born June 20, 1859 in Pomerania ; † August 21, 1913, presumably in Hamburg ) was a German association chairman and founder of charitable church institutions.

Live and act

Emil Koehn's family background as well as childhood and adolescence are almost not documented. Allegedly he learned the profession of nurse and worked as a volunteer during the Franco-German War . There is also no evidence as to whether he pursued or had to work in addition to his voluntary work.

Koehn was married to Elisabeth Anne Ellen , née Smidt (born November 23, 1861 in London , † August 21, 1913 in Hamburg). Their son Henry Koehn later worked as a cultural researcher.

Establishment of the YMCA in Hamburg

From 1890 Koehn was the first general secretary to head the newly founded Christian Association of Young Men (YMCA) in Hamburg , which he chaired from 1892 to 1908. He then led a board of trustees that had been set up for him. Under his leadership, the association opened a hall on the horse market with around 1500 seats in October 1893 . It was the first large room for church meetings in Hamburg, which several Christian organizations attended. As the space quickly became insufficient, Koehn campaigned for another building. The association thus received a house with a large hall on the esplanade that was inaugurated on October 6, 1905, as a gift .

According to the statutes, the YMCA was dedicated to young men who came from Hamburg in particular. The association wanted to offer appropriate leisure activities and training opportunities. To this end, it organized spiritual gatherings, musical and sporting events, lessons, general public lectures and offered an extensive library that was used in particular by craftsmen, merchants and engineers. In 1896 he had YMCA 3925 visitors per month on average. The association was clearly against the labor movement; Workers rarely visited the facility. The association's board of directors spoke out against the May Day celebrations , as the aim was to "overthrow the order willed by God". During the cholera epidemic of 1892 Koehn found 53 people among the association's members who volunteered to care for the sick.

Establishment of the Hamburg workers' colony

While working at the YMCA, Koehn met many adolescents who could not find work or had financial problems. Therefore he founded the Hamburg workers' colony , based on Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, to whom he wrote letters over several decades and whom he met personally. Koehn found financiers who enabled him to open a facility for 35 people at Neustädter Neuerweg 43 in December 1891. In 1913 280 people in need were accommodated here. The workers' colony took care of unemployed single workers and craftsmen of all faiths and organized professional reintegration in several specialist areas. She paid a corresponding wage for the work.

The Hamburg workers' colony not only took care of the unemployed, but also former inmates of the Friedrichsberg “prison” who were released from prison and classified as cured . She also employed male "cripples from Hamburg" who were considered capable of work and training. Since the participants in the workers' colony were supposed to find new jobs as quickly as possible, three months were considered to be the usual duration of participation. People who were unable to take up work were given notice immediately. The auxiliary facility, which belonged to the German Herbergsverein led by Bodelschwingh and to which Koehn was also involved, moved into new premises in Rothenburgsort on November 1, 1892 . It used a former factory building at Billhorner Kanalstrasse 59. In addition to a wide range of manual and agricultural activities, it offered the workers living rooms and bedrooms.

Koehn quickly came to the conclusion that he could not help everyone in need to get regular employment. Therefore, since 1892, together with Jasper von Oertzen and Frederick Freiherr von Schröder, he planned to set up a home colony outside the city for men who “could no longer take on the struggle of life”. The necessary donations for this were available to them in 1896. In doing so, they set up the Schäferhof in Appen , which gradually took on 130 unemployed men who worked mainly in agriculture and made a living.

Other engagement

Koehn has dedicated himself in particular to waiters and cooks since the YMCA was founded. They often settled in Hamburg in order to benefit from the emerging tourism, but often remained unemployed and without an apartment in the winter months. Financed by donations, Koehn maintained a house for them next to the YMCA building on the Esplanade . He also set up a meeting room on Fehlandstrasse, which offered prayer, lessons, advanced training and leisure activities. He also asked Hamburg hoteliers to distribute Bibles in hotel rooms.

On December 25, 1893, Koehn inaugurated a "breakfast church". He orientated himself on the " Schrippenkirche " of the Berlin city mission . Here on Sundays, people who were unemployed and often homeless came together for a free breakfast. Afterwards, changing clergy held a short service. One day later, Koehn held a consultation hour for people in need whom he wanted to find help. Later he helped women of the Hamburg bourgeoisie to set up such an institution for women, following the example of his workers' colony. This resulted in the women's colony in Prisdorf in 1911 .

In addition to his own aid organization, Koehn was also involved in other associations. This included the North German men's and youth club , of which he was a member. There he took over the chairmanship of the building committee and played a major role in the construction of a soldiers' home in what is now Hohenlockstedt . Internationally, he worked on the board of the German East Africa Mission and campaigned for Indian women in the Senana Mission. He also worked for the Evangelical Alliance, as a church leader and poor carer.

Having had heart disease since 1912, Koehn worked less and less and resigned from his offices. He died in Hamburg in August 1913 and received numerous benevolent obituaries.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jürgen Newig: Koehn, Henry . in: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon . Volume 4. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1976, p. 130
personal data
SURNAME Koehn, Emil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Koehn, Emil Paul (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German association chairman and founder of charitable church institutions
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Pomerania
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1913
Place of death unsure: Hamburg