Heinrich Blumenthal (manufacturer)

Heinrich Blumenthal (born May 12, 1824 in Darmstadt ; died March 27, 1901 there ) was a German mechanical engineering manufacturer and building contractor.

Life

Heinrich Blumenthal was born in May 1824 as the son of the Jewish businessman Bernhard Blumenthal (1781–1836) and his wife Rebekka nee. Rosenheim was born in Darmstadt. Bernhard Blumenthal came to Darmstadt from the Bavarian town of Altenstadt (Upper Bavaria) in 1821 and opened a textile shop there in August 1821 on Ludwigsplatz.

Heinrich lost his father when he was only 12 years old. The parental business was initially continued by his mother. Around 1846/47 the eldest son Sigismund Blumenthal (1821–1878) and a son-in-law took over the business.

Heinrich Blumenthal was granted citizenship in Darmstadt at the end of 1851 and was called Mechanicus. In the 1850s, Blumenthal expanded his parents' workshop into a machine factory that mainly produced agricultural equipment. In 1850, Blumenthal was one of the first in Darmstadt to use a steam engine in his factory. He is therefore also considered one of the pioneers of industrialization in Darmstadt. In 1862/63 the factory was relocated to the site between today's Bismarckstrasse and Landwehrstrasse. At the turn of the century, the factory was still one of the largest in Darmstadt.

Heinrich Blumenthal, a supporter of the National Liberal Party , was a member of Darmstadt's city council from March 1871 until his death. He gradually shifted his interest to urban development and housing construction. In the autumn of 1871 he presented a plan for the expansion of the city to the north-west, which the Grand Duke Ludwig III. (Hessen-Darmstadt) was approved in November 1871. Together with several other influential people, Blumenthal founded the terrain and construction company Blumenthal & Cie., Which set itself the task of developing the urban area soon to be known as the Blumenthal district. The company initially bought almost all of the 10,000 square meter site between Frankfurter Strasse, Landwehrstrasse and Blumenthalstrasse and took care of the development of the property. The individual building plots were then sold to relevant interested parties. As early as 1874, over 50 houses were built in the district.

The (construction) crisis in the 1880s could be overcome relatively quickly by engaging the Mainzer Bodenkreditbank. The remaining undeveloped areas could then be sold and built on within a few years.

After the opening of the Johanneskirche in October 1894, the quarter was renamed Johannesviertel .

Heinrich Blumenthal professed his Jewish faith. For many years he was head of the Jewish community and worked closely with Otto Wolfskehl on the board of directors of the Jewish community. Along with Wolfskehl, he was one of the driving forces behind the construction of the liberal synagogue in Bleichstrasse, which was inaugurated in 1876.

Heinrich Blumenthal died in the spring of 1901 at the age of 76 in his hometown of Darmstadt. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Bessungen. The funeral oration was given by David Selver , the rabbi of the liberal Jewish community. During his lifetime, Blumenthal was a highly respected citizen of urban society. The long-time Lord Mayor of Darmstadt, Albrecht Ohly , assumed that the name Blumenthal would remain permanently connected to the city of Darmstadt through the northwest quarter. On October 15, 1938, the name Blumenthalstrasse was renamed Taunusring by the National Socialist city council under Otto Wamboldt . This renaming was not reversed after 1945 by the Social Democratic magistrate, but a few years later the Taunusring was rededicated to the extended Kasinostraße. Today a path in the Kranichstein district reminds of Blumenthal.

He was married to Klara geb. Landsberg († 1899) from Obermoschel . From the marriage are a son Dr. Bernhard († 1931) and a daughter Dr. Margarethe († 1941) emerged.

Memorial plaque for Heinrich Blumenthal on Johannesplatz

Honors

• 1876: Awarded the title of Commerce Council
• 1876: Honorary member of the Hassia warrior association.
• 2015: Memorial plaque on Johannesplatz in the Johannesviertel .

literature

• Eckhart G. Franz : Jews as Darmstadt citizens. Roether, Darmstadt 1984, pp. 235-239 and p. 349.
• Stadtlexikon Darmstadt , ed. Historical association for Hesse on behalf of the city council of the City of Science Darmstadt. Stuttgart: Theiss Verlag 2006, p. 91.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Eckhart G. Franz: Jews as Darmstadt citizens , p. 239
2. ↑ One of the important sons of our city in FAZ of November 7, 2015, p. 47