Hermann Fürchtegott Reemtsma

Hugo Körtzinger , Ernst Barlach and Hermann Fürchtegott Reemtsma (from left) in front of the frieze of those listening by Ernst Barlach

Hermann Bernhard Fürchtegott Reemtsma (born October 29, 1892 in Osterholz-Scharmbeck , † June 18, 1961 in Heide ) was a German entrepreneur , manufacturer and patron .

Life and work

Reemtsma was born on October 29, 1892 to Bernhard Reemtsma . His father was a businessman and partner in a cigar factory and later an independent manufacturer and dealer of cigars . In 1894 the family moved to Blankenburg . Reemtsma first attended a community school and then a humanistic grammar school . In 1908 the family moved to Erfurt ; Reemtsma graduated from high school with the upper secondary qualification and began a three-year commercial training in an Erfurt wholesaler for regional products in 1909 and then worked at the "Oriental Tobacco & Cigarette Factory" in Dresden and at the producer "Halpaus" in Wroclaw , before he got a job in 1914 at "Dixi", a cigarette manufacturer acquired by his father in Erfurt in 1910.

In 1915 he was called up for military service and released from it again in 1917 due to illness. Together with his brother Philip , he became a co-owner of his father's company in the same year and introduced the first mechanical methods for manufacturing tobacco products there. In the from 1919 “B. Reemtsma & Sons ”, in which his third brother Alwin was also involved, Hermann Fürchtegott Reemtsma took over responsibility for organization, production, human resources and administration. In the following years the company grew, achieved larger market shares and was converted into a stock corporation in 1921 .

In 1923 the company moved its headquarters to Altona-Bahrenfeld , where it continued to expand. Hermann Fürchtegott Reemtsma was responsible for ensuring that the employees could be offered comparatively good working conditions and high social benefits. During the time of National Socialism , the entrepreneurs repeatedly made large donations to Hermann Göring and various parties in order to assert themselves in the German cigarette market. Reemtsma campaigned for Jewish employees who had to be fired due to political pressure.

After the end of the Second World War , Reemtsma's company was placed under trusteeship and the entrepreneur was briefly imprisoned by order of the British Military Administration . In 1948 Reemtsma and his brothers were allowed to take over the management again. In the 1950s, the company, today: Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken , was the market leader with a share of 40 percent of the cigarettes produced in Germany.

Reemtsma died surprisingly a year after the death of his brother Philipp in 1961 on his country estate in the Lüneburg Heath.

Personal

Reemtsma was married to Johanna (Hanna) Eisenschmidt (1895–1988) since July 1918 and had four children with her: Helga, Hanna, Heike and Hermann-Hinrich . In 1934 he bought a country estate in the Lüneburg Heath , which he used both for agriculture and as a residence for his family.

Art collector and patron

Reemtsma was interested in music and the visual arts , with an emphasis on 19th century art. The sculptor and painter Hugo Körtzinger brought him closer to modern sculpture and became a close friend and advisor to the entrepreneur. After a joint visit to Ernst Barlach in Güstrow in 1934 , he promoted the sculptor, draftsman and writer and commissioned him to produce the “Frieze of the Listening”, which was handed over in 1935. The nine sculptures are considered the artist's last major work. After Barlach's death in 1938, he tried to get his estate and became a member of the “Committee of Barlach Friends”.

In 1945 Reemtsma set up a “Barlach Archive” accessible to interested parties on his property. He was a co-founder of the Ernst Barlach Society and founded the Ernst Barlach Society in 1960 - the Hermann F. Reemtsma Foundation . The foundation's house designed by Werner Kallmorgen opened one year after Reemtsma's death in 1962.

In addition to Barlach, the entrepreneur also sponsored other sculptors, including Käthe Kollwitz , Richard Scheibe and Georg Kolbe . He was also significantly involved in the creation of the "Foundation for the Promotion of the Hamburg Art Collections".

Hermann Reemtsma Foundation

Today the Hermann Reemtsma Foundation, founded in 1988 by Hermann-Hinrich Reemtsma and based in the Elbschlösschen in Nienstedten, commemorates Hermann Fürchtegott Reemtsma .

literature

• Sebastian Giesen: Reemtsma, Hermann F. In: Hamburgische Biographie . Edited by Franklin Kopitzsch and Dirk Brietzke , Vol. 4, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8353-0229-7 , pp. 227-230.

Web links

• ZEIT obituary dated June 23, 1961 on Zeit.de