Hans Christian Eiffler

Hans Christian Eiffler (* 1630 ; † March 28, 1703 in Altona ) was a German businessman, politician and mayor of Altona.

Life

Hans Christian Eiffler was the son of a merchant who emigrated from Silesia to Holstein during the Thirty Years War . He first worked as a businessman. From about 1653 he lived in Hamburg , where he became a citizen of the city in 1657. After 1660 he moved into a residence in Altona and acquired extensive property with the so-called Eifflers Feld. He subdivided the areas between Grosse Johannisstrasse and Kleine Freiheit into streets and building sites and sold them to those willing to build.

On October 3, 1664 Eiffler became second mayor of Altona. In this capacity he addressed the Danish king twice. In 1668 he complained about maladministration and the judiciary and made suggestions for improvements, which the Danish side did not pursue. With his petitions, Eiffler indirectly attacked President Rudolf Roland , presumably mostly justified . Rudolf then drafted a defense that contained personal attacks against Eiffler and resulted in legal disputes between Eiffler and Roland that lasted several years.

Eiffler made various suggestions, which presumably were based on personal rivalries with the president, public spirit and self-interest. He demanded to be allowed to implement his plans himself and applied for an exemption from taxes for a period of 24 years for his field. So he wanted to promote the development of the areas. A horse market should take place in front of his house four times a year. Eiffler offered to collect the excise duties on beer, meat and wine for the king , and in return secured building land for a church building.

In 1668 Eiffler got involved in building a grammar school, but this failed because of Roland's resistance. From 1680 Eiffler took over the position of the sole salaried mayor of Altona. As part of a preparatory commission, he supported the establishment of a Latin school opened in 1683 under the aegis of Roland's successor in office Matthias Jessen . School operations were stopped again in 1690.

In 1703 a royal commission examined the actions of officials and the financial system in the Pinneberg rule . Hans Christian Eiffler was able to prove that he had embezzled certain income from fines for the king. In addition, he had received too much salary for several decades. Eiffler's offenses were within the framework of those of his counterparts.

Eiffler was married twice: first with Anna Wilde (1634-1665), who was the daughter of a preacher from Dithmarschen , and second with Anna Maria Kupferschmidt († 1715) from Marschacht .

Honors

Eifflerstraße in Altona-Altstadt has been a reminder of Hans Christian Eiffler since 1950 .

literature

• Dagmar Bickelmann: Eiffler, Hans Christian . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 3 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-8353-0081-4 , p. 109-110 .