Felix Rauter

Felix Rauter

Tomb at the Essen East Cemetery

Felix Rauter (born June 8, 1841 in Steele , † December 1, 1910 in Godesberg ) was a German merchant who also acted as a patron and city ​​councilor of the city of Essen.

Live and act

Felix Rauter was born as the son of the glass manufacturer Heinrich Rauter, who founded the Rauter & Butenberg company for the manufacture of hollow and sheet glass . It was taken over by the Wisthoff glassworks in 1853 . Heinrich Rauter had also taken over a vinegar factory and a brick factory from his father Franz .

Felix Rauter spent his youth with his parents in Essen and attended grammar school here, then did military service as a one-year volunteer in Düsseldorf and subsequently did a commercial training. He inherited his father's brickworks and vinegar factory and expanded the latter to include a brandy distillery. The company was located near Kettwiger Strasse and the city ​​theater , Rauter's home was the Alte Post , which was located there at the time .

Rauter was a city councilor for the city of Essen for 25 years, working closely with Mayor Erich Zweigert .

In 1895 Rauter handed over the entire operation of the vinegar factory and the brandy distillery to his son Heinrich. This still exists today in the company Felix Rauter GmbH & Co. KG, distillery, spirits factory, wine import in Essen. After the handover, Rauter devoted himself exclusively to his voluntary work in public life. He sponsored the local history museum in Essen and left him an extensive collection of written and pictorial documents about the development of the city of Essen in the 19th century. In addition, Rauter set up a foundation for the “shameful poor” and, through personal sacrifices, supported the establishment of a maternity home.

On June 12, 1909, Rauter was awarded the honorary title of royal Prussian commercial councilor on the occasion of his resignation from the voluntary public service . He was also the bearer of the Prussian Red Eagle Order III. Class.

Felix Rauter died during a spa stay in Godesberg. He was first buried in the cemetery at Kettwiger Tor in Essen. When this had to be abandoned in 1955 for urban planning reasons, the family grave was reburied in Essen's East Cemetery .

In 1937, Rauterstrasse was named after him in Essen's east quarter .

literature

• Hermann Schröter: Essen Commercial Councilors . In: The hometown of Essen . Essen 1959, p. 59 ff .
• Erwin Dickhoff (†): Essen heads . Ed .: City of Essen, Historical Association for the City and Abbey of Essen. 2nd Edition. Klartext, Essen 2015, ISBN 978-3-8375-1231-1 , p. 279 f .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Chronicle of the Rauter company