Jakob Kühnhaus

Jakob Kühnhaus (actually: Jacob Kühnhaus) (born March 19, 1782 in Velbert ; † June 4, 1844 in Gladbach ) was a textile manufacturer and mayor of Mönchengladbach.

Jakob Kühnhaus, around 1835

Life

Jakob Kühnhaus was born in the Bergisch town of Velbert. The family later ran the mill "in front of the bridge" in Essen- Kettwig. At the beginning of the 19th century he moved to Gladbach and worked there as a canvas manufacturer.

In his first marriage he married Anna Margaretha Klaumann, after her death he went with Helene Hollweg, born in Ede , in 1825 . Eater a second marriage.

Kühnhaus died on June 4, 1844 in Gladbach at the age of 62 and was buried in the town's Protestant cemetery. Unlike the graves of many important Protestant families, his grave no longer exists today.

mayor

On March 2, 1822, Kühnhaus was appointed mayor of almost all of the communities belonging to the former Gladbach sub-district: Gladbach with the formerly independent community of Hardt, Obergeburth , Oberniedergeburth and Unterstiedergeburth .

In the first year of his term of office, he initiated the revision of the cadastral plans from the French era with the aim of reorganizing the municipalities that were arbitrarily divided up after 1798 and thus simplifying administration. However, the territorial reform he was considering did not come about until 1836.

After he took office, Kühnhaus moved into an official apartment in the rented municipal office on upper Crefelder Strasse, today's Hindenburgstrasse. An administrative secretary was at his side as an employee. The line of official business in the outskirts - Obergeburth, Oberniedergeburth and Unterniedergeburth - he transferred its residents who are aldermen and rarely intervened in the ongoing official duties. However, the municipal council meetings, to be called if necessary, were generally held under his chairmanship.

In August 1835, Jakob Kühnhaus acquired the former abbey building of the Gladbach Benedictine Abbey , which was used as a factory after the secularization to furnish the town hall and official residence of the mayor. Even today, the "Rathaus Abbey" next to the Rheydt Town Hall is the seat of the Mönchengladbach City Council and the official seat of the Lord Mayor .

On May 19, 1836, he resigned from the mayor of Neuwerk , until 1835 Unterstiedergeburth . In the city of Gladbach with the associated special communities Obergeburth and Oberniedergeburth as well as in Hardt, he remained in office until his death.

literature

• W. Löhr: Loca Desiderata - Mönchengladbach City History . Volume 3
• H. Schallenburger: The mayors of Neuwerk and their successors . Mönchengladbach 2009