Gustav Höfken

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Johann Wilhelm Gustav Höfken , ennobled to Ritter von Höfken in 1867 (born June 14, 1811 in Hattingen , † July 14, 1889 in Vienna ) was a German journalist , politician and economist as well as an Austrian ministerial official.

Vormärz (until March 1848)

Höfken attended the Hagen trade school and was later an artillery officer in Cologne and Koblenz . He also studied economics . After a dispute with a Prussian government councilor, he was imprisoned in the Ehrenbreitstein fortress in 1835 . After his release he went to Spain and fought on the side of the liberals, known as Christinos , in the Carlist Wars . Although he was appointed to their general staff, he returned to Germany and became an anti-reactionary political journalist. This activity brought him arrest and conviction again in 1838 and he was expelled. In 1841 Höfken worked in the Cologne editorial office of Karl Marx's " Rheinische Zeitung " . He then went traveling and in 1847 temporarily worked in Augsburg for the Cottaschen " Allgemeine Zeitung ". In this paper he and Friedrich List pleaded for the unity of Germany. In addition, a number of publications such as: "England's development of power in relation to Germany" (1846), "Flemish Belgium" (1847) were written during this period.

First edition of the double room with Höfken's name in the editor's line

In 1847 Höfken became head of the " Deutsche Zeitung " published in Heidelberg , in which he campaigned for a unified Germany on a constitutional basis together with Georg Gottfried Gervinus and Friedrich Daniel Bassermann . Although he was also a lecturer at the university there, he also had to write novels, short stories and dramas (probably under a pseudonym) for a living.

Member of the National Assembly 1848/49

In spring 1848 Höfken ran for the Frankfurt National Assembly . Among other things, he explained: " My motto is: freedom and order, the German order in freedom. A German federal state, a German people's chamber ."

He was a member of the National Assembly from May 24, 1848 to May 30, 1849 as a member of the 14th Westphalian constituency in Dortmund . As a member of the Württemberger Hof parliamentary group , Höfken was considered a representative of the "left center" in Frankfurt, but found it difficult to make public debates. However, he kept in constant contact with his constituents and wrote regularly for the Bochumer Kreisblatt.

In 1849 he took part in the Gotha assembly .

Official in the Vienna Ministry of Finance

After the revolution, his friend, Austrian Minister of Commerce, brought him from Bruck to Vienna. Höfken became a section councilor in the Ministry of Finance in 1849 and helped prepare the planned German-Austrian customs union. He was then involved in various reform projects, for example in the area of ​​commercial and financial legislation, as well as postal and coinage, but refused to be appointed finance minister. He was ennobled by Emperor Franz Josef and retired in 1868.

In the following years he continued to work as an author.

Fonts

As editor

  • Tirocinium of a German officer in Spain. Stuttgart, 1841.
  • Volkswohl: monthly newsletter for social u. political reform 1/1849.

As an author

  • The German Zollverein in its advanced training . Cotta, Stuttgart and Tübingen 1842
  • England's Conditions, Politics and Power Development; with relation to Germany . 2 vols. Leipzig, 1846.
  • Flemish Belgium . 2 vol., Bremen, 1847.
  • The Austrian financial problems regarding bank, currency and deficit . Leipzig, 1862.
  • German emigration and colonization with a view to Hungary . Vienna, 1850.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Höfken, Gustav
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Höfken, Johann Wilhelm Gustav (full name); Höfken, knight of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist, politician and economist, as well as Austrian ministerial official
DATE OF BIRTH June 14, 1811
PLACE OF BIRTH Hattingen
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1889
Place of death Vienna