Ernst Hardt (entrepreneur)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ernst Hardt (born September 22, 1837 in Cologne ; † August 7, 1898 ibid) was a German entrepreneur who designed and operated the Cologne horse-drawn tram .

Career

Hardt began with a wine shop in Cologne, after which he worked as a glue manufacturer. Hardt married in Hamburg in 1866. In December 1869 his son Ernst was born, who worked as a painter. Since 1870 his father was listed in the "Handbook on the Royal Prussian Court and State" as consul of the Republic of Peru , in 1874 he received the Peruvian exequatur .

Hardt is considered to be the founder of the Cologne tram . In 1873 he applied for the concession to operate horse-drawn trams in the city of Cologne and the suburbs and, in contrast to his competitors (F. Pallesterz & Co., Philipp Hoffmann and Daners Junior), was able to present a detailed concept for expanding the line . In October 1874 his application was sent by the police authorities to the city administration for comment. The Lord Mayor of Cologne Alexander Bachem reacted evasively and referred to the planned expansion of the city. When Hardt received a hesitant answer in April 1875, he turned to the still politically independent suburbs. On October 19, 1876, the City Council of Cologne under the new Lord Mayor Hermann Becker approved the construction of the horse-drawn tram. As a result, on March 15, 1877 , the district government allowed Hardt to use its provincial roads to the suburbs, which prompted Hardt to award the contract for the construction of the wagons to the Cologne wagon manufacturer Peter Herbrand .

Horse tram at Hahnentor (around 1890)

Hardt traded under the horse railway E. Hardt & Cie. , Shareholders had since September 1876 80% of Belgians Frédéric de la Hault (* February 15, 1826, † 24 July 1882). On April 28, 1877, the first horse-drawn tram line (“Päädsbahn”) from Deutz to Kalk opened , followed by a section between Ehrentor and Hahnentor on June 17, 1877 . Hardt worked quickly, because the Cologne- Nippes line opened in September 1877, followed by Cologne- Melaten (October 1877), Cologne- Lindenthal (November 1877) and Cologne- Bayenthal (December 1877). In 1878, Hardt also experimented with steam-powered trams in Deutz.

It was not until December 27, 1878, that the city of Cologne granted the concessions for downtown Cologne . After endless negotiations, Hardt's Belgian partner Fréderic de la Hault was awarded the contract for 23 years on March 13, 1879. But the fact that two partially competing entrepreneurs operated horse-drawn trams in Cologne soon became a nuisance for both the entrepreneurs and the city of Cologne. The Belgian operating company Société Anonyme du Tramways de Cologne merged with Hardt's company on June 3, 1882 under the name of Cölnish Tramway Company , of which Hardt was its managing director until 1886. When Hardt died in 1898, Cologne had a horse-drawn tram network about 60 km in length. The company was acquired by the city in January 1900 for 20 million marks .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ulrich S. Soénius , Jürgen Wilhelm (Ed.): Kölner Personen-Lexikon. Greven, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-7743-0400-0 , p. 215.
  2. ↑ Georg Hirth (Ed.), Handbook about the royal Prussian court and state , 1870, p. 122
  3. ^ Winfried Reinhardt: History of the Cologne traffic. 3000 years of mobility in the Rhineland. 2017, p. 223. ( limited preview of Google Books )
  4. ↑ Otto Kayser: The railways of the city of Cologne. 1913, p. 2. ( limited preview of Google Books )
  5. ↑ Peter Fuchs (ed.): Chronicle of the history of the city of Cologne. Volume 2, 1991, p. 155.
  6. ^ Winfried Reinhardt: History of the Cologne traffic. 3000 years of mobility in the Rhineland. 2017, p. 223.
  7. ^ Winfried Reinhardt: History of the Cologne traffic. 3000 years of mobility in the Rhineland. 2017, p. 225.
personal data
SURNAME Hardt, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH September 22, 1837
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1898
Place of death Cologne