Jürgen Brix

Jürgen Brix (born January 9, 1830 in Brunsholm (Esgrus) , † March 5, 1916 in Itzehoe ) was a German farmer and journalist.

Life

Jürgen Brix was the son of Diedrich Brix (1798–1877), a farmer who had owned the Brunsholmhof since 1820 . The mother, Catharina Dorothea, née Jacobsen, (1805-1887) was a daughter of the farmer Jürgen Jacobsen, who came from Sörup-Schauby . He had a brother named Jakob (1828-1880) who worked as a physician in Flensburg . The sister Doris (1831-1915) married the pastor Otto Schnittger from Schleswig . The brother Theodor (1844-1905) also became a journalist.

Brix attended a village school up to the age of nine and then received lessons from a private teacher. In 1864 he began an agricultural training on his father's farm and continued his self-didactic training. In 1850 he fought during the Schleswig-Holstein uprising in the battles at the Stentener mill and near Missunde . From 1851 to 1858 he managed goods, including three years in Sweden. He then took over a mill and worked as a farmer in Brunsholm until 1872.

Brix called the “Angler Hagelschadensverein für die Duchtum Schleswig” into being, which he led as director for many years. In 1867 he moved into the provincial parliament as a member of parliament. He was also a member of the provincial committee.

Importance as a journalist and for local politics

From 1860 Brix worked for the "Itzehoer Nachrichten", for which he wrote articles on agriculture and politics. From January 1, 1873 to March 31, 1906, he was the editor of the paper. In this position he had a decisive influence on the political orientation of the newspaper and thus the opinion-forming of the population of Schleswig-Holstein.

Brix succeeded in sneaking in readers who were mostly inclined to the Augustenburgers and their conflicts with the state. He himself initially belonged to the Progressive Party , but at the beginning of the 1880s turned himself and the newspaper into a moderate national liberal position. In doing so, he decisively weakened left-wing liberalism in the region.

Brix largely agreed to official domestic and foreign policy. As a result, he played a part in the fact that the population of Schleswig-Holstein also largely contributed to their excesses. While his brother Theodor resolutely rejected the Germanization efforts of the Prussians in North Schleswig, Jürgen Brix supported them without reservation. This exacerbated the conflicts between the German and Danish residents. The “Itzehoer Nachrichten”, which was significantly influenced by Brix, promoted a political right-wing orientation of the mostly rural residents. The long-term consequences of this only became apparent after 1920.

family

Jürgen Brix was married to Mathilde Margarethe Poppenhusen from Schleswig (1836–1915) since 1858. The couple had three sons and four daughters.

literature

• Jörn-Peter Leppien: Brix, Jürgen . in: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon . Volume 2. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1971, pp. 80–81