Eugen von Boch
Eugen (Eugène) Anton Boch , von Boch since 1892 (born May 22, 1809 in Siebenbrunnen , Luxembourg ; † November 11, 1898 in Mettlach , Merzig-Wadern district , Saarland ) was a German entrepreneur , 4th generation partner and head of the family business Villeroy & Boch . He was also a landowner on Britten (Kr. Merzig), royal Prussian secret councilor , member of the provincial parliament and mayor of Mettlach.
On the occasion of his golden wedding anniversary and in recognition of his services in Danzig on May 15, 1892 with a diploma from August 10, 1892 in Potsdam, he was raised to the Prussian nobility .
family
Boch comes from an old merchant family from Audun-le-Tiche ( Moselle department in Lorraine ) and was the son of the factory owner Jean-François Boch , the third generation owner of the family company Villeroy & Boch Keramische Werke .
He married on May 3, 1842 in Fremersdorf an der Saar (in the 21st century part of the large community of Rehlingen-Siersburg in the Saarlouis district , Saarland) Oktavie Villeroy (born August 25, 1823 in Fremersdorf ; † May 12, 1899 in Mettlach, Saarland) , the daughter of the industrialist Charles Villeroy (1789–1843), landlord on Wallerfangen in the Saarlouis district near Saarbrücken , and Georgette de Renauld (1797–1884). She was the granddaughter of Nicolas Villeroy , his father's partner . - The competitive situation between Villeroy in Wallerfangen and Boch in Mettlach was eliminated through the merger of the two companies in 1836 and the marriage of the heiress Octavie Villeroy with the company heir Eugen von Boch in 1842.
The monastery chapel in Wallerfangen became impractical for church services due to the relocation and renovation of the hospital, which is why Boch carefully dismantled it in 1879, brought the sorted stones by ship to Mettlach and had it rebuilt there in 1882 over the family crypt . This fact is engraved on a large stone above the portal inside the chapel: “ This building was built in 1864 by Mrs. Wittwe Thiery, b. von Lasalle built as a house chapel in Wallerfangen and in 1879 by Eugen Boch and his wife Oktavia geb. Villeroy has been moved here via her family crypt for the use of the Sisters of Charity of St. Carl Borromeo . "
Life
In the middle of the 19th century, Boch founded a ceramic collection, which has been continuously expanded since then. The evidence of more than two and a half centuries of industrial history can be seen in the Mettlach Ceramics Museum in a former factory hall in the Old Mettlach Abbey . Since the founding of the small pottery of the ancestor François Boch (1748) around 17,000 exhibits have come together.
As was widespread among the nobility and the bourgeoisie at the time to raise their own prestige, Boch was also an entrepreneur interested in antiquity , which is why he put together a considerable collection of antique and antique vases, most of which came from Naples . The reason for his interest in antique vases, whether original or skilful imitation, was not only his love for art and ancient cultures. The pieces should also serve as illustrative material for training apprentices and as a template and source of inspiration for your own production.
Eugen von Boch “was the old Mr. von Mettlach, long-time mayor and deputy mayor of Mettlach, and the community erected a memorial to him out of gratitude. He was appointed to the council of commerce and privy council, he received medals and decorations. He was raised to the hereditary nobility on the occasion of his golden wedding anniversary, but he remained the humble and helpful person he always was. But he was proud of one award: on August 6, 1877, he received the life-saving medal on the ribbon for successfully rescuing a boy from the Saar near Fremersdorf. "
His most important work is the development of particularly durable and artistically designed stoneware slabs , which were named Mettlacher Platten after their place of origin . These are characterized by temperature resistance, including frost, and they can carry large loads without breaking. These panels caught on very quickly in the booming house construction at the end of the 19th century and reached all parts of Germany at the time.
Orders, decorations and monuments
- Life Saving Medal on Ribbon (1877)
- some high orders
- The city administration had a monument erected in front of the stoneware factory established and successfully operated by Boch in his birthplace.
The stoneware tiles were initially marketed under the name Mettlacher Platten . Their artistic design was based on floor mosaics from Roman villas .
See also
literature
- Genealogical manual of the nobility , noble houses B volume XXXV, page 95, volume 156 of the complete series, CA Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 2014, ISSN 0435-2408 .
- Adam Görgen: Eugen von Boch, the noble philanthropist. A life full of action and love. René von Boch-Galhau, the knight of work and social welfare. A life full of sacrifice and loyalty. The youth and the people told , Winkler Verlag, Saarlouis 1912.
- Walter Lauer: Boch, Eugen Anton von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 339 ( digitized version ).
- Ruth Bauer: The old tower in Mettlach as reflected in the preservation of monuments. On the restoration of the 19th century by Eugen von Boch and August von Cohausen , in: Journal for the History of the Saar Region, Volume 48, Pages 165f., 2000.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gruner: History of the Boch family.
- ↑ Jörg Niendorf: Blossoming antiquity in the hallway . In: Berliner Zeitung , January 17, 2020, p. 6.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Boch, Eugen von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Boch, Eugene |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 22, 1809 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Siebenbrunnen near Luxembourg |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 11, 1898 |
| Place of death | Mettlach , Saarland |