Friedrich von Schenck (industrialist)
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Friedrich von Schenck (born January 16, 1851 in Arnsberg , † April 20, 1912 in Kassel ) was a German entrepreneur and industrialist .
Early years
He was the son of the lawyer Wilhelm Friedrich von Schenck . As a primary student at the Laurentianum grammar school in Arnsberg , where he graduated from high school , he wore a full black beard , which, in the opinion of the time, showed him to be an idiosyncratic personality. According to family tradition, when a teacher tried to forbid his beard, he made it grow even more. He initially struck a higher civil service career in the postal service. As a war volunteer, he served in the field post during the Franco-German War of 1870/71 and also worked as an interpreter . After the war ended, he turned to industry. From a trainee to the position of authorized officer , he rose to the factory manager of a relative's cloth factory in Aachen . He left the company, served again as a soldier for a year and rose to lieutenant in the reserve . In addition, he continued his education, gave lectures on history and published articles on insurance . He bought his father's house in Arnsberg, but initially lived in Iserlohn .
Time in South America
From 1875, Schenck worked in the Spanish branch of the Iserlohn company Kissing & Möllmann . It was used in South America to open up new sales markets. Two trips to Colombia , Central America and Venezuela he called the school of his life . In his travel reports, which he wrote down like a diary and then sent home, he described the political and economic conditions as well as original events. He portrayed entanglement and corruption in these countries and also described the geography of the areas. In addition to his commercial activity, he worked for a scientific publisher and carried out about a thousand height measurements . He also updated maps. Some of the measuring devices used are still family-owned today. Schenck adapted to local conditions on his travels. The leg-high boots had spurs , and a cloak thrown around the shoulder served as protection against the sun. He wore a broad-brimmed hat and a large-caliber drum revolver on his belt . He moved with loaded mule - caravans through the rough terrain. In the meantime, Schenck returned to Arnsberg, completed a reservist exercise in 1879 and prepared for his second ocean crossing. In 1881 he fell ill with severe pernicious fever ( yellow fever ). Due to the illness he returned to Germany. He suffered several relapses.
Entrepreneur
After his return to Arnsberg he got involved together with his cousin Josef Cosack jr. there in the wood industry . In 1882 he co-founded the company Cosack, Schenck & Comp. This produced from charcoal produced briquettes for heating of railway wagons. In addition, one of the largest steam sawmills in northern Germany was founded. The sawmill later became the sole property of Schenck and not only processed wood from the region, but also from Finland and Russia . It exported to the Netherlands and Great Britain . A year later he was also a co-founder of the Cosack paper mill . He made a significant contribution to the modernization of the plant and its profitability. In 1883 he married Emilie Marie Louise b. Lenne from Neuenahr . After all, Schenck was involved in the use of the hydropower of the Ruhr through an 800 m long tunnel from 1895 and - building on this - in the foundation of the Ruhrwerke AG (now the Arnsberg plant of Reno de Medici ), which was prepared in 1898 and which took place in 1901 . In addition to an entrepreneur from Hagen , Schenck was on the board of what was then the largest company in Arnsberg. He thus contributed significantly to the commercial development of the previous administrative town of Arnsberg.
Association representative
In addition, it was of considerable importance for the development of industry in the Sauerland . He was a co-founder and from 1897 to 1911 President of the Arnsberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry . In 1893 he became chairman of the Northwest German Association for the Timber Trade and Industry, which he was instrumental in founding . He was one of the initiators of the dam construction in the Sauerland. Schenck was chairman of the water management association in Prussia and the Ruhr dam cooperative and a member of the board of the Ruhr dam association . In particular , he made a significant contribution to the construction of the Hennetalsperre and the Möhnetalsperre , but he never lived to see the completion of the Möhnetalsperre. He was also a member of the district railway councils in Hanover and Cologne . As such, he was also committed to better rail connections in the Sauerland. He was also a co-founder and chairman of the Sauerland employers' association to defend against the labor movement . On the other hand, he was also chairman of the Sauerland health insurance association and he sold the workers of his companies cheap properties on what is now Vinckestrasse. Arnsberg he was a member of the Center Party as a city councilor and magistrate member of local politics involved. The politics with their polemics did not appeal to him, however, and he always turned down candidacies for the Landtag or the Reichstag . In Arnsberg, by founding the Easter Fire Association, he also contributed to maintaining the tradition of the Easter fire.
estate
He kept a diary from the age of fifteen until almost his death. The diaries are still in the family's possession today. However, the latter rejected an edition because it also contains a large number of private recordings. Another part of his estate is in the Westphalian Economic Archives in Dortmund in the holdings of the Arnsberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
literature
- Jürgen Funke: Friedrich von Schenck (1851–1912). Most important industrial pioneer in Arnsberg at the beginning of this century. In: Heimatblätter, magazine of the Arnsberger Heimatbund e. V. , No. 17 (1996), pp. 29-31.
- Berndt von Schenck: Friedrich von Schenck . In: Rheinisch-Westfälische Wirtschaftsbiographien , Volume 11. Münster 1983, pp. 195–214.
- Friedrich von Schenck. In: De Suerlänner , born 1966, p. 13.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heimatblätter, magazine of the Arnsberger Heimatbund e. V. , No. 17 (1996), pp. 29-31.
- ↑ Description of the holdings for holdings K 6 - (Chamber of Industry and) Commerce for south-eastern Westphalia in Arnsberg at the Westphalian Economic Archives, last accessed on August 13, 2019
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schenck, Friedrich von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 16, 1851 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Arnsberg |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 20, 1912 |
| Place of death | kassel |