Ernst Wahliss

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Wahliss bust on the Pörtschach lake promenade
Guide Etablissement Wahliss 1890
Ernst Wahliss department store (1906), Vienna, Kärntner Strasse , number 17

Ernst Wahliss (born March 1, 1837 in Oschatz , Kingdom of Saxony ; † July 18, 1900 in Vienna ; full name Carl Ernst David Wahliss ) was an Austrian businessman and chinaware manufacturer.

Although he was not a Carinthian, he is still one of the important pioneers of tourism in the Wörthersee region . His contemporaries called him the “creator of modern Pörtschach ”. The merchant is said to have been artistically gifted and painted porcelain himself . The emperor honored this entrepreneur with a personal visit several times. When he died, his fortune was estimated at 20 million crowns .

Life

Ernst Wahliss was born on March 1, 1837 in Oschatz , Saxony . He initially earned his living as a traveler at a porcelain factory. In October 1863 he married the pastor's daughter Anna Bahr (1839–1903), who bore him 11 children, of which three sons and four daughters survived the father. After the wedding, he went into business for himself and opened a porcelain shop in Heinrichshof on Kärntner Strasse in Vienna. The sales flourished in such a way that he could relate, built according to plans by Gustav Korompay by Johann Görlich porcelain house in 1879 in the Carinthian road number 17th

The Wahliss department store was a five-story building, the facade of which was tiled with blue and white porcelain tiles by Carl Knoll from Karlsbad. The figural gable coronation on the second floor was created by the sculptor Franz Koch. In its place had previously been the “Zum wilden Mann” inn, which the “rough” wagoners used to frequent. Emperor Franz Joseph I appeared at the opening of the building . The monarch also came to view the luxurious exhibits that went to the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 . From the eighties (1883) Wahliss also owned a wholesale business in London .

In Carinthia he “secured a lasting memory” by purchasing a large basic complex in Pörtschach in 1883 from the headland to the main road and building a dozen summer villas there in a spacious park . The Wahliss bathing establishment was the “first house” on the square. The weekly events included two military concerts. On the occasion of the maneuvers in Carinthia in 1899, the emperor paid a visit to the health resort on the sunny north bank of Lake Wörthersee. Wahliss was given the honor of showing Sr. Majesty his tourism facilities. In animated conversation he led the monarch through the grounds. The official program even had to be changed because Franz Joseph wanted to visit Villa IX. The escort was amazed to see how Wahliss kidnapped his highest guest. For the Kaiser's birthday on August 18, major sea festivals were held every year at Wahliss, which lasted several days and ended with a festival ball.

In 1891 Ernst Wahliss, who was in his mid-fifties, also included the health resort of Velden in his interests: He acquired the ruins of the historic Velden Castle for 45,000 guilders and had the building rebuilt according to the old views, but only with two floors. The castle was adapted to a luxury hotel and had 150 rooms with the Parkvilla and Beachvilla branches . In the first year after the company opened, tourism in Velden rose by 24%.

In the mid-1990s, the millionaire Wahliss helped the Protestant pastor in Waiern with an interest-free loan of 10,000 guilders so that he could buy a house for a Protestant school home in Klagenfurt.

The creator of the tourism centers in Pörtschach and Velden was a striking figure. The councilor of commerce always had his hands behind his back and often wore a velvet barrette. Because of his patriarchal beard, he was sometimes confused with the composer Johannes Brahms , who often stayed in Pörtschach and spent days there when composing was easy for him.

Ernst Wahliss suffered from asthma . In July 1900 he fell ill with pneumonia , which led to death within a week. The successful businessman, industrialist and pioneer of the tourism industry died at the age of 64 when he closed his eyes on July 18, 1900 in Vienna .

literature

Movie

  • Porcelain and summer freshness - the story of Ernst Wahliss. Documentary with scenic documentation, Austria, 2015, 24 min., Book: Christian Hölbling , camera: Gerhard Lapan, production: Focus Film, ORF -Landesstudio Kärnten, series: Erlebnis Österreich , first broadcast: April 12, 2015 on ORF2 , synopsis by ARD .

Web links

References

  • Klagenfurter Zeitung on September 20, 1899 and July 21, 1900.
  • Free votes on July 21, 1900.
  • A. Leopold: 50 years of Pörtschach , Klagenfurt 1908.
  • Josef Rabl: Illustrated Guide through Carinthia , Vienna 1898, pp. 17 and 20.
  • Holiday magazine Velden am Wörthersee , 1990, No. 2, p. 7.
  • Veldener Zeitung on October 15 and December 15, 1992.
  • Felix Czeike (Ed.): Historisches Lexikon Wien . Volume 5, Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-218-00547-7 , p. 572. (To the Wahliss department store)
personal data
SURNAME Wahliss, Ernst
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wahliss, Carl Ernst David (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian businessman and china manufacturer
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1837
PLACE OF BIRTH Oschatz , Kingdom of Saxony
DATE OF DEATH July 18, 1900
Place of death Vienna