Franz von Mendelssohn the Younger

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Franz von Mendelssohn (far left) at the lawyers' banquet in the Marble Hall of the Berlin Zoological Garden (1930)

Pierre Franz Walther von Mendelssohn (born July 29, 1865 in Berlin ; † June 13, 1935 there ) was a German banker and economic functionary.

Life

Berlin memorial plaque on the house, Herthastraße 5, in Berlin-Grunewald

Mendelssohn was the son of the banker Franz von Mendelssohn (1829–1889) and the Enole, geb. Biarnez. Mendelssohn studied law in Bonn and Berlin. After his studies and clerkship, he joined the family business Co. Bankhaus Mendelssohn & A. Mendelssohn married his cousin Marie Clara Westphal (1867–1957) in 1889. He had been a co-owner of the company since 1892 and senior manager of the company since 1917. In the period before the First World War he was mainly active in the bond business. Since 1913 he was a member of the Prussian manor house . After the war he withdrew more and more from the operational business and concentrated on his work in German and international economic bodies.

In 1902 he was elected the oldest of the Berlin merchants. In the Berlin Chamber of Commerce, which was founded in the same year, he was first second vice-president, a short time later first vice-president, and since 1914 president. Under his aegis, the chamber was merged with the corporation of the Berlin merchants and the Potsdam Chamber of Commerce in 1920.

Since 1906 Mendelssohn was a member of the German Industry and Trade Day . In 1921 he became its chairman. As such, Mendelssohn managed to secure an influential position for this body within the economy. Mendelssohn made the general assembly a political forum to which he invited leading politicians of the republic. In 1924, for the first time after the First World War, representatives of the German chambers abroad were invited. Mendelssohn hoped to win their representatives, who were mostly monarchical, for the Weimar Republic .

International cooperation was particularly important to Mendelssohn. In 1925 he became head of the new German group of the International Chamber of Commerce . In 1931 he was elected President of the Conference of the International Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC .

In addition, Mendelssohn was a member of the General Council of the Reichsbank and of the Provisional Reich Economic Council .

Tomb of Franz von Mendelssohn and his wife Marie

In 1931 he resigned from most offices for health reasons. Both the IHK Berlin, as well as the DIHT (today DIHK ) and the International Chamber of Commerce appointed Mendelssohn as honorary president. In 1932 he was awarded the Harnack Medal of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (KWG), which is awarded for special services to the KWG.

In addition to his professional and economic activities, Mendelssohn was active as a sponsor of art and science as well as in the field of welfare . Among other things, he was treasurer of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. From 1911 to 1935 he was also a member of the Senate of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. He was also active in the Association of Friends of the Prussian State Library and the Kaiser Friedrich Museum Association. Mendelssohn was a co-founder and board member of the German Orient Society . In addition, his villa, the Palais Mendelssohn ( Berlin-Grunewald ), was a meeting place for the Berlin cultural scene.

The IHK Berlin and the Chamber of Crafts Berlin have been awarding a Franz von Mendelssohn Medal every year since 2005 for special social commitment. A plaque commemorates Franz von Mendelssohn on Herthastraße 5. His grave is located together with that of his wife Marie, his parents, his brother and his son in Cemetery I of the Jerusalem and New Church Congregation in Berlin-Kreuzberg .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Hertz: The Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A contribution to the economic history of Berlin. de Gruyter, Berlin and New York 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-020669-2 . (Chapter III: The Mendelssohn Era (pp. 24–41))
  2. ↑ Committed companies wanted - IHK and Chamber of Crafts award the Franz von Mendelssohn Medal 2015. ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at ihk-berlin.de, accessed on October 19, 2015.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ihk-berlin.de

literature

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Commons : Franz von Mendelssohn the Younger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Mendelssohn, Franz von the Younger
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mendelssohn, Pierre Franz Walther von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German banker and economic functionary
DATE OF BIRTH July 29, 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 1935
Place of death Berlin