Johan Reuchlin

This article deals with the shipping company owner Johan Reuchlin. For other people, see Johan George Reuchlin .

Jonkheer Johan Georg Reuchlin (born December 6, 1874 in Rotterdam , Netherlands ; † April 15, 1912 in the North Atlantic when the Titanic sank ) was a Dutch entrepreneur and managing director of the Holland America Line . The shipping company was run by members of the Reuchlin family for decades.

Life

Reuchlin was born in Rotterdam as the son of Otto Reuchlin (1824–1924) and his wife Carolina Helena (née Schumacher). His father was originally a wine merchant, but later went into the shipping business. On February 8, 1871, Otto Reuchlin and his business partners Antoine Plate and W. van der Hoeven founded the company Plate, Reuchlin & Co., which later became the Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij NV (NASM), known as Holland-America Line became known. Johan Reuchlin became office manager and later director of the company himself.

On May 10, 1905, he married Agatha Maria Elink Schuurman (1880–1960), who, like him, came from an old noble family. With her he had three children: Henri (born July 7, 1906), Carolina Helena (born July 5, 1908) and Maarten (born February 3, 1911). Reuchlin lived with his family at Calandstraat 53 in Rotterdam.

Reuchlin traveled a lot for professional reasons. This was also the case on April 10, 1912, when he boarded the new liner RMS Titanic of the White Star Line in Southampton as a passenger , which set out for its maiden voyage to New York . Reuchlin was guest of honor of the White Star Line and wanted to evaluate the Olympic class of the White Star Line for his own company using the example of the Titanic , since the Holland America Line also orders a large passenger ship from the Olympic class shipyard , Harland & Wolff would have. This was the Statendam , which was already under construction in the spring of 1912.

Bruce Ismay , the director of the White Star Line, informed the general director of the Holland-America Line in New York, Jan V. Wierdsma, in writing on March 21, 1912 that he would personally ensure that Reuchlin had a " comfortable cabin ”. During the crossing, Reuchlin exchanged telegrams with various people , including the captain of the RMS Caronia of the Cunard Line : “Thank you for your message. Had nice weather, no fog. Bon Voyage. Reuchlin. ”On the night of April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank after a collision with an iceberg . Reuchlin was killed in the sinking. His body, if it was among those recovered afterwards, was never identified.

On April 18, 1912, the manager of the New York office of Holland-America Line, C. Gips, wanted to pick up Reuchlin at the White Star Line landing stage in New York Harbor . He did not know that Reuchlin had not survived the downfall and was only informed about it by Bruce Ismay. Reuchlin's widow Agatha received an annual pension of Fl 5000 ( Dutch guilders ) for herself and her children from the Holland-America Line . His son Henri later also became director of the Holland-America Line. Reuchlin's grandson Johan George Reuchlin is a well-known writer and was one of the first interim managers in the Netherlands and was, among other things, director of the large Rotterdam exhibition company Ahoy.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Short biography and photo . English, accessed February 13, 2011