Johann Stephan Gottfried Büsching
Johann Stephan Gottfried Büsching (born April 18, 1761 in Göttingen , † April 23, 1833 in Berlin ) was a Prussian administrative officer and long-time Lord Mayor of Berlin .
Life and education
Büsching was born as the son of the geographer, theologian, philosopher and educator Anton Friedrich Büsching ; his mother was the poet Christiana Büsching . Among his twelve siblings is the twenty-two-year-old archaeologist Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching , who came from his father's second marriage. He spent the first years of his life in Saint Petersburg , where his father was pastor of the Lutheran congregation. In 1766 he became the director of the Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Berlin. A year later, Johann Stephan Gottfried became a student at the school run by his father.
From 1779 to 1782 Büsching studied law and camera science, i.e. administrative science, in Göttingen and Halle . Just one year after the end of his eighteen-year term as mayor of Berlin, Büsching died at the age of 72 in Berlin.
Professional career
Büsching was first the second director of the War and Domain Chamber in Gumbinnen , East Prussia , then War and Tax Council and from 1804 mayor of Berlin. In the Comité administratif created by Napoleon in French-occupied Berlin in 1806 , Büsching headed the police department until May 1808.
In 1809 Büsching was elected mayor; he temporarily represented the seriously ill Leopold von Gerlach in his function as Lord Mayor; After Gerlach's death, Büsching was elected Lord Mayor of Berlin on June 24, 1813 and was appointed to his office in February 1814; he became the second holder of this office, which had only existed since 1809.
Major reforms were necessary during Büsching's tenure; many of the costs previously borne by the state in the royal residence were now to be borne by the city administration. Therefore, housekeeping was the central task of the second mayor of Berlin. Büsching succeeded in reducing the city's debts; Their expenditures were increasingly covered by local taxes, especially property-related taxes.
The social problems associated with the increasing industrial settlement presented Büsching with further tasks; he campaigned for the urban poor; His duties included caring for the poor, the widow's pension and the officer's widow's fund. Büsching introduced financial support for the poor, free medical and welfare services, and poor schooling in Berlin. The attempt to set up a municipal employment agency for the unemployed against the resistance of the city council, however, did not succeed.
According to the historian Gunther Hildebrandt, Büsching's most pressing problems slipped away in his last years in office; he rather took on the role of age president. He and his magistrate were uncomprehending about the so-called tailoring revolution of September 1830, which was suppressed by the military . They viewed the riot primarily as "nonsense" or a disturbance of public order and misunderstood its political and social causes.
Büsching was re-elected with a large majority in both 1820 and 1826; At the end of his third term of office, Büsching, now almost 71 years old, resigned from the office of mayor in March 1832.
Honors
On February 23, 1832, Johann Stephan Gottfried Büsching was awarded the title of City Elder for his services to the city . The king awarded him the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class. A memorial plaque on Jüdenstrasse in Berlin-Mitte commemorates him.
literature
- Gunther Hildebrandt: Johann Stephan Gottfried Büsching . In: Wolfgang Ribbe (ed.): City leaders. Biographies of Berlin mayors in the 19th and 20th centuries . Historical Commission of Berlin, Berlinische Lebensbilder Volume 7. Stapp Verlag, Berlin 1992, pp. 52–65. ISBN 3-87776-212-3
Web links
- Johann Stephan Gottfried Büsching . In: Berlin's mayor at the Luisenstadt educational association
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilhelm Michel: Büsching, Anton Friedrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 3 f. ( Digitized version ).
- ↑ Gunther Hildebrandt: Johann Stephan Gottfried Büsching . [...], pp. 51, 61, 63f
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Büsching, Johann Stephan Gottfried |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Prussian administrative officer and long-time Lord Mayor of Berlin |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 18, 1761 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Goettingen |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 23, 1833 |
| Place of death | Berlin |