Gerhard Kohnert

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Gerhard Kohnert (born September 2, 1882 in Geestemünde ; † July 5, 1962 in Melle ) was a German entrepreneur , furniture manufacturer, local politician and promoter of local cultural institutions.

Life

Gerhard Kohnert was born as Gerhard Kohn, son of Franz Kohn (* December 23, 1857; † September 24, 1909) and his wife Johanna, geb. Gehrels (* December 24, 1862; † December 24, 1925) was born on September 2, 1882 in Geestemünde as the first son. His brother, four years his junior, was the entrepreneur and Chamber of Commerce president Hans Kohnert .

After attending the secondary school in Bremerhaven, the 17-year-old Gerhard Kohn began his apprenticeship and wandering years (1900–1908): first two semesters at the Leipzig Graduate School , then two more semesters at the Cologne Graduate School, which is still in the making . This was followed by commercial positions in Geestemünde, Lübeck, in Wiborg (Finland) in the Kramfors sawmill in the Härnösand district in Northern Sweden and finally two years in London and one year in America.

Gerhard Kohnert was not married and had no children. Due to hostility due to the Jewish-sounding family name Kohn / Cohn under the National Socialist regime, his brother Hans applied for the family and the affected companies in Geestemünde and Melle to change their name to 'Kohnert', which was ministerially approved on August 14, 1937. Gerhard Kohnert died on July 5, 1962 at the age of 78 in Melle after a short illness.

Services

In 1909, after the death of his father, Gerhard Kohn joined his parents' parent company, the wood importing and processing company Pundt & Kohn in Geestemünde, as an authorized signatory, in which he also became a partner in 1912 - together with his brother Hans, who ran the Took over the company after the death of his father (1909). From 1912 to 1924 he was also a member of the Bremerhaven Chamber of Commerce and Industry .

In 1909 Gerhard Kohn founded the Meller Möbelfabrik GmbH (MMM) in Melle, near Osnabrück , which he managed until his death (1962). He had recognized early on that in the vicinity of the so-called "furniture basin" (Herford, Detmold, Ostwestfalen-Lippe), d. H. In a structurally weak region between the Wiehengebirge and the Teutoburg Forest , the conditions were particularly good for setting up a furniture industry: rich beech and oak forests supplied the raw materials, high unemployment and low wages ensured low unit costs, the large land requirement for the area-intensive furniture production could be covered cheaply here. In addition, the connection to the railway network to the rapidly developing furniture sales markets in the nearby Ruhr area, and later also in the Rhineland and Saarland, meant favorable development conditions for furniture production.

After all, there were special terms and conditions in the two world wars, including a. with the manufacture of ammunition boxes and aircraft parts, which were produced under the restrictive laws of defense management. During the Second World War, for example, MMM's production was converted to war economy tasks.

After the end of the war, British troops under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery occupied the region and confiscated the Kohnert villa "Haus Sonneck" on Meller Berg (1945–1955). Montgomery set up its temporary headquarters in the neighboring Gut Ostenwalde (Melle-Oldendorf). Kohnert then lived in the company's office building before having three new residential buildings built on the factory premises (since 1967 as a listed ensemble) for himself and his operations manager and authorized signatory on the factory site in the early 1950s. After the war, MMM also gained a national name under the leadership of Gerhard Kohnert. She was known as a manufacturer of elegant and innovative living room and office furniture, u. a. of licensed furniture in the Bauhaus style for the Bremen workshops. However, the advancing industrialization and internationalization of the furniture industry also led in the 1960s to 1970s to concentrate on ever larger and more modern companies and to abandon those who could not keep up with this process.

Works

Gerhard Kohn - now 31 years old - took part in the First World War as a war volunteer on all fronts and was wounded twice . He was known and loved in Melle. ... He promoted the Meller fire brigade and the Meller children's choir, was a co-founder of the Meller Volksbank in 1921. In 1928 he was the Meller's king of riflemen and finally an honorary member.

After the end of the Second World War , the British military government endeavored to find new unencumbered and freely elected local political leaders in Melle after the twelve years of national-socialist rule. On November 14, 1945, the members of the city committee proposed to the military government to form a "Citizens Committee" of 20 people based on the model of the Weimar Republic. The military government called the newly formed body "City Council" and approved its composition on December 19, 1945. On January 9, 1946, the city council met for its constituent session and, with the approval of Colonel Wilcox, elected furniture manufacturer Gerhard Kohnert as mayor. The previous mayor Dr. Baron von Massenbach took over the newly created office of "City Director". ( 60 years of local self-government in Melle. Meller Kreisblatt , October 11, 2006). Because of his upright German demeanor, however, he was removed after a few months. ... In terms of his nature, Gerhard Kohnert made little public appearances. The fire extinguishing system in Melle found special support through him. 25 years ago he emphasized his ties to the people with the achievement of the royal dignity of the rifle guild. Avoiding any club activity, he gives the Meller Children's Choir its special support.

On his 70th birthday, the factory owner Gerhard Kohnert was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit by District President Friemann on September 2, 1953 for his services to building up the domestic furniture industry. According to the Meller Kreisblatt, this rare and high distinction was awarded for the third time in the Melle district .

Honors

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Oliver Bonkamp: Cooperations and networks in the furniture industry in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region. Dissertation. University of Paderborn, 2005. pp. 28–32.
  2. ^ SA Ruppert, H. Riechert: The war economy in Lippe. In: Domination and Acceptance. Publications of the State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia, Vol. 41, 1998, pp. 99–149.
  3. ^ Gut Ostenwalde: Residence of Field Marshal Montgomery . New Osnabrück Newspaper GmbH & Co. KG. August 25, 2015. Accessed April 21, 2019.
  4. ↑ Manfred Deiß et al: New Rationalization Strategies in the Furniture Industry II: Consequences for Employees. [Monograph] 1989. p. 29.
  5. ↑ From old Mell newspaper volumes, "50 Years Before (1962)". In: Meller Kreisblatt .
  6. ↑ Meller Kreisblatt in an article on his 70th birthday, v. 2nd September 1953.
  7. ↑ s. Meller Kreisblatt in an article on his 70th birthday, from September 2, 1953.
personal data
SURNAME Kohnert, Gerhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kohn, Gerhard (until name change in 1937)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German furniture manufacturer, promoter of economy and culture
DATE OF BIRTH September 2, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Geestemünde
DATE OF DEATH 5th July 1962
Place of death Melle