Heinrich Kaufmann

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Heinrich Kaufmann

Heinrich Kaufmann , also Heinrich Friedrich Kaufmann, Heinrich Kauffmann, (born November 23, 1864 in Bredegatt, today Steinbergkirche ; † July 2, 1928 ) was editor of the weekly report of the Großeinkaufs-Gesellschaft Deutscher Consumvereine mbH (GEG), chairman of the people's welfare and ideologue of Consumer cooperative movement of the Hamburg direction .

Life

Heinrich Kaufmann was the son of the businessman HC Kaufmann in the village of Bredegatt , fifteen kilometers east of Flensburg .

He went to elementary school in Bojum, which is now part of Esgrus parish . From 1881 to 1883 he attended the preparandeum in Aabenraa and then until 1887 the teachers' college in Hadersleben . Then he was a teacher in Kiel and Hamburg. He had the opportunity to attend lectures at the University of Kiel and the Johanneum in Hamburg and drove, partly to prepare for further exams, partly out of a passion for mathematics, natural sciences, history, literature and economics.

He took an active part in the establishment of the Free Volksbühne Hamburg and in the management of this association, where he worked together with Helma Steinbach and Adolph von Elm . Pieces by ostracized authors were performed, such as Gerhart Hauptmann's Before Sunrise or even Die Weber .

Heinrich Kaufmann family grave , Ohlsdorf cemetery

In the fall of 1894 he resigned from his position as a teacher at the private Possmann School in Hamburg. He had to pay for his activity in the Barmbeck training association with his disciplinary measures as a teacher at the Possmann school . Since at the same time the social democratic party in the neighboring town of Harburg founded its own party paper, the "Volksblatt für Harburg-Wilhelmsburg und Umgebung", he took over the position of managing director and editor for half the salary he had previously received as a teacher would have. He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for despising state institutions, which he had to serve in Hameln prison. He was treated like a criminal.

Heinrich Kaufmann died in 1928 and was buried in Hamburg at the Ohlsdorf cemetery (grid square U26, grave location 124-6 Kapellenstraße / east of Lippertplatz ).

Consumer cooperative movement

He was elected to the supervisory board of the Harburger Konsumverein . Through the managing director Ewald Fritsch , who was one of the official founders of the Großeinkaufs-Gesellschaft Deutscher Consumvereine (GEG), Kaufmann got in touch with leading consumer cooperatives from all over Germany.

In 1900 Heinrich Kaufmann became editor of the weekly report of the Großeinkaufs-Gesellschaft Deutscher Consumvereine mbH, Hamburg (GEG).

Entire board of the ZdK 1903, v. l. Karl Schmidtchen , Konrad Barth , Max Radestock (chairman), Heinrich Kaufmann (secretary)
Enamel sign in the sales outlets of the consumer cooperatives around 1925 in the Hamburg cooperative museum

In 1901 he took over the establishment of the editorial management of the GEG. He used this position to disseminate consumer cooperative ideas and for the ideological orientation of the consumer cooperative movement in the Hamburg direction .

Heinrich Kaufmann took an active part in the struggles that led to the founding of the Central Association of German Consumers' Associations (ZdK) in 1903. The newly founded central association elected him secretary. With this post he also took over the editorial department with the associated press, the weekly report (which emerged from the price list of goods in 1895 ) and the women's cooperative newspaper , as well as the printed matter distribution. The publishing house of the Central Association of German Consumer Associations was established by Heinrich Kaufmann & Co. as the carrier of these business ventures . Kaufmann was the managing director, while the three board members of the Central Association of German Consumer Associations were the owners of the open trading company in trust with him .

On January 1, 1904, the weekly report was converted into the consumer cooperative Rundschau and in 1908 the women's cooperative newspaper was converted into the consumer cooperative Volksblatt .

The yearbooks of the Central Association (ZdK) were published by him and the publishing company continued to expand. In 1907 the publishing company's first printing plant was opened in the new administration building of the GEG. In 1909 the paper goods factory was set up in Hammerbrookstrasse. The organization of the central association was expanded and developed.

The work for the central association and the publishing house became so extensive that the conversion of the latter into a limited liability company and the employment of three executive board members, one of whom was a businessman, proved necessary. At the same time he became a board member of the Central Association of German Consumer Associations . The publishing company built a large administration, office and operations building at Strohshaus 38 , to which the various operations of the central association and the publishing company moved.

In June 1907, Kaufmann became a member of the GEG's supervisory board.

Since the founding of the pension fund of the Central Association of German Consumer Associations in 1905, he was its managing member. This fund has withstood all the storms of time and is today the largest German company pension fund under the name Hamburger Pensionkasse from 1905 .

In addition, Kaufmann was a member of the tariff office, chairman of the board of the people's welfare and since 1902 a member of the central board of the International Union of Cooperatives (IGB).

Kaufmann was a consistent advocate of the principle that consumer cooperatives may only supply their members.

Heinrich Kaufmann Foundation

In 1928 the Heinrich Kaufmann Foundation was founded by the publishing house of the Central Association of German Consumer Associations. It was endowed with an initial capital of 250,000 Reichsmarks and was intended to promote scientific work in the field of economics and especially the cooperative system. Ten years after the end of the Third Reich , it was founded in 1955 by the Central Association of German Consumer Cooperatives. V. (ZdK) founded again. Since May 2014 she has been the sponsor of a new Hamburg cooperative museum and publisher of publications on the topic of cooperatives. The museum shows 170 years of cooperative history with a focus on consumer cooperatives. The "PRO" in Hamburg plays an important role in this.

Under the direction of Burchard Bösche , the Heinrich Kaufmann Foundation has published numerous cooperative publications, including a. the conference volumes of the historical conferences, but also many historical texts, such as the cooperative songbook by Heinrich Kaufmann from 1910. His main work is the biography of Adolf von Elm . In 2018 he published further biographies at the Heinrich Kaufmann Foundation: a book about the cooperative member Ferdinand Vieth 1869–1946. and a book about the unionist Helma Steinbach .

Honors

  • The Heinrich-Kaufmann-Ring is a street in Hamburg's Horn . Kaufmann was honored with the naming of the street on May 2, 1966.
  • The Heinrich-Kaufmann-Straße in Flensburg was named after him.

Fonts (selection)

  • Heinrich Kaufmann: The large purchasing company of German consumer associations mb H. GEG. For the 25th anniversary 1894–1919. Hamburg 1919. The self-portrayal there on pages 237 f. this post essentially follows.
  • Heinrich Kaufmann: Festschrift for the 25th anniversary of the Central Association of German Consumer Associations . Published on behalf of the board and committee of the Central Association of German Consumers, printed by the Verlaggesellschaft deutscher Konsumvereine mbH, Hamburg 1928, DNB 573322228 .
  • Essays by Henry Kauffmann to 1902, from 1903 only with an f under Henry Kaufmann in the Monatshefte , library.fes.de , enter their name in the search function, accessed 10 April 2009.

literature

  • Reinhard Weber: Kaufmann † (contemporary obituary). In: Socialist monthly books . September 24, 1928, pp. 809 f. or library.fes.de (PDF; 9.3 MB, p. 73 f.), can only withstand today's critical appraisal to a limited extent, accessed April 10, 2009
  • Erwin Hasselmann : In the current of time, 60 years of the Central Association of German Consumer Cooperatives. In: Central Association of German Consumer Cooperatives e. V., Hamburg (ed.): Contributions to the theory and history of the cooperative system . Publishing company of German consumer cooperatives, Hamburg 1963.
  • Walther G. Oschilewski : Will and Action. The way of the German consumer cooperative movement. Hamburg 1953.
  • Wilhelm Fischer : 60 years versus 60 years of service to consumers. 1894-1954. Festschrift Hamburg 1954, OCLC 246414686 .
  • Burchard Bösche : Heinrich Kaufmanns Genossenschafts-Liederbuch. Norderstedt 2011, ISBN 978-3-8423-6618-3 .
  • Rudolph Bauer : Kaufmann, Heinrich , in: Hugo Maier (ed.): Who is who of social work . Freiburg: Lambertus, 1998 ISBN 3-7841-1036-3 , p. 290

Web links

Heinrich Kaufmann Foundation

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Erwin Hasselmann: In the stream of time, 60 years of the Central Association of German Consumer Cooperatives. In: Central Association of German Consumer Cooperatives e. V., Hamburg (ed.): Contributions to the theory and history of the cooperative system . Publishing company of German consumer cooperatives, Hamburg 1963, p. 53 f.
  2. ^ Burchard Bösche: Heinrich Kaufmann, founder and father figure of the ZdK . (PDF; 65 kB). Lecture given at the 2nd Hamburg Conference on Cooperative History from 2. – 3. November 2007 - Co-op founders and their ideas, p. 1; Retrieved April 12, 2008.
  3. ↑ Hartmut Bickelmann : Ferdinand Vieth 1869-1946. Life and work of a member of the cooperative in personal testimonies and contributions. Publisher Heinrich Kaufmann Foundation. Norderstedt 2018, ISBN 978-3-7460-5925-9 , p. 29.
  4. ↑ a b Burchard Bösche : Heinrich Kaufmann, founder and father figure of the ZdK . (PDF; 65 kB). Lecture given at the 2nd Hamburg Conference on Cooperative History from 2. – 3. November 2007 - Co-op founders and their ideas, p. 5; Retrieved April 12, 2008.
  5. ^ Hamburger Pension Fund from 1905 , accessed on April 12, 2008.
  6. ^ Heinrich Kaufmann Foundation , accessed April 19, 2008.
  7. ^ Adolph von Elm: "The uncrowned King of Hamburg" trade unionist, cooperative member, social democrat. Norderstedt 2015, ISBN 978-3-7347-6357-1 .
  8. ↑ Hartmut Bickelmann : Ferdinand Vieth 1869-1946. Life and work of a member of the cooperative in personal testimonies and contributions. Publisher Heinrich Kaufmann Foundation. Norderstedt 2018, ISBN 978-3-7460-5925-9 .
  9. ↑ Kirsten Haake: Helma Steinbach 1847–1918 - A pioneer for trade union, cooperative and party, biography. Verlag Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2018, ISBN 978-3-7528-2318-9 .
  10. ↑ The street names of Horner and their meaning . History workshop Horn; Retrieved April 23, 2008.
  11. ↑ Map excerpt , accessed on June 19, 2008.
personal data
SURNAME Kaufmann, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Businessman, Heinrich Friedrich; Kauffmann, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Editor and chief ideologist of the consumer cooperative movement of the Hamburg direction
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Bredegatt , fishing
DATE OF DEATH July 2, 1928