Johann Wilhelm Kampf

Johann Wilhelm Kampf

Johann Wilhelm Kampf der Jüngere (* 1799 in Elberfeld (now part of Wuppertal ), † August 10, 1875 in Hilden ) was a German businessman , entrepreneur in the textile industry and an important local politician in Hilden.

Johann Wilhelm Kampf as a textile entrepreneur

Johann Wilhelm Kampf the Younger came from a family that was already active in the textile industry as a bleacher and yarn dealer in the Middle Ages near Wuppertal . He was the son of the silk printer and silk ribbon maker Johann Wilhelm Kampf the Elder (1763-1834) in Elberfeld. The brother of Johann Wilhelm Kampf the Elder was Karl Kampf, tape maker and fabric printer in Elberfeld and father of the painter and photographer August Kampf (1836-1914). Johann Wilhelm Kampf was married to Julie Katharina Lohe (* in Ronsdorf ; † April 24, 1848 in Hilden), a daughter of the pharmacist Johann Friedrich Lohe, who worked in Ronsdorf from 1898 (born March 21, 1758 in Radevormwald ; † 17 May 1831 in Unterbarmen ) and his wife Helena Charlotte Lohe, née Küpper (born January 28, 1769 in Düssel , † June 25, 1820 in Westhofen ).

In 1832, together with Johann Christian Spindler (* July 27, 1801 in Kassel ; † January 29, 1881 in Hilden), he founded the Kampf & Spindler semi-silk goods and ribbon factory in Elberfeld . In 1848 the partners separated and continued their business as individual companies. Johann Christian Spindler stayed in Elberfeld. Johann Wilhelm Kampf moved to Hilden in 1848.

Seidenkontor in Elberfeld

Johann Wilhelm Kampf and Johann Christian Spindler became friends. Johann Wilhelm fight and Johann Christian Spindler founded in 1832 in Elberfeld on Hofkamp under the company fight & Spindler one half-silk goods - and Volume factory. There, home weavers delivered the fabrics they had woven at home and received material for further work. Production was later expanded to include woolen cloths and vests. They sent the garments bought by the home weavers to the textile fairs in Wuppertal, Brunswick and Leipzig and sold them on.

Separation from the partner, sole proprietorship in Hilden

In 1848 the partners separated and continued their business as individual companies, Johann Christian Spindler stayed in Elberfeld. In 1848 Johann Wilhelm Kampf moved to the Hagdorn house in Hilden , which offered him enough space for a home and business. Well-trained home weavers lived in Hilden. The Hagdorn house, Benrather Straße 1, was built between 1820 and 1830 by Theodor Bongard (baptized Protestant Reformed on June 5, 1759 in Hilden; † May 8, 1834 in Hilden) on the western outskirts of the village of Hilden. He was also the owner of the former manor Haus Horst . Through his daughter Anna Elisabeth Bongard-Horst (baptized July 12, 1806 in Hilden; † January 11, 1875 in Düsseldorf), Bongard bequeathed his property to her husband, Karl Reichsfreiherr von Maercken zu Geerath (born July 25, 1799 in Ratingen; † 19 October 1877 in Cologne). The latter sold the Hagdorn estate to Johann Wilhelm Kampf.

In Haus Hagdorn, Johann Wilhelm Kampf ran an office, weighing chamber and warehouse. As early as 1849, Kampf employed 100 workers who worked on 100 handlooms . Until the beginning of industrialization , home weavers made a significant contribution to the rise of the city of Hilden. In 1857 he tried to merge the Hilden weavers into a weavers 'and knives ' association. Of 135 local weavers, 62 joined this association.

Reunification of Kampf & Spindler in Hilden

The children of the two founders of Kampf & Spindler in Elberfeld, Ernst Wilhelm Kampf (* October 4, 1830 in Elberfeld; † March 27, 1877 in Sanremo ) and Emilie Spindler (* August 2, 1837 in Elberfeld; † October 13, 1919 in Hilden) married in 1858. This was the reason for Johann Christian Spindler and Johann Wilhelm Kampf to withdraw from their businesses and to reunite them on October 1, 1863 under the former company Kampf & Spindler in Hilden. Ernst Wilhelm Kampf and his brother-in-law Gustav Adolph Spindler (born August 9, 1839 in Elberfeld; † April 18, 1895) first set up the textile company Kampf & Spindler in the Hagdorn house.

In 1863, Kampf & Spindler were the first to recognize the advantages of the location on the Itter for a large textile manufacturing company. They combined spinning with weaving and later also with dyeing and printing . As a result of industrialization , workers moved to Hilden. Companies like Kampf & Spindler built living space for the workers and their families. The population increased from 3,600 in 1850 to 4,500 in 1860 (one year before the city charter was obtained) and further to 11,300 in 1900 (construction of the town hall).

Johann Wilhelm Kampf as a council member

Johann Wilhelm Kampf was a member of the local council from 1850. In 1855, as a member of the municipal council, he was a co-founder of the Sparkasse in Gottfried Plümacher's vinegar factory on Hummelsterstrasse.

Johann Wilhelm Kampf was significantly involved in the efforts of the Hilden community that began in 1859 for city ​​rights . On December 17, 1859 battle made a motion that "the town of Hilden awarded the rights of the city and will represent Hilden at district and provincial state legislatures in the state of cities." The then District Emmerich Baron Raitz von Frentz sat down in 1860 in the county council the Rhine Province supports it. Hilden also received support from the Elberfeld banker Carl von der Heydt , who reported that "the community of Hilden, benefited by its location and the unusually fast flourishing of industry, has been gaining the reputation of a city for years in its entirety." November 18, 1861, King Wilhelm of Prussia made Hilden a town. After the city survey was Johann Wilhelm battle 1862-1868 Assistant .

Street lighting in Hilden

First oil lanterns

On August 16, 1852, the Hilden manufacturer Johann Wilhelm Kampf applied to Mayor Koennecke to set up public oil lanterns as street lamps. This was a first step into the future of a lighter Hildens. With a narrow majority of 7 to 6 votes, the local council decided to purchase oil lamps for street lighting . The pharmacist Carl Bongardt donated 100 thalers. Eight oil lamps could be bought from the foundation's capital. From November 1852 four were hung from houses and four from stakes in Mittelstrasse.

The locations of the first oil lamps as street lighting with their current and former significance were:

Catholic church at the fork (St. Jacobus, drug store Müller; formerly in front of Gasthaus zur Krone );

Corner of Mittelstrasse – Mühlenstrasse (gold source; formerly Friedrich van der Heiden dextrin factory);

Corner of Mittelstrasse – Bismarckstrasse (Commerzbank, formerly Sparkasse, city library);

Corner of Markt – Marktstrasse (Café Fricke; formerly Alter Markt);

Corner of Mittelstrasse –Schulstrasse; (Deutsche Bank, Plastic, Urgent Buyer Reformation Church );

Corner of Mittelstraße – Klotzstraße – Benrather Straße Süd Nord (Coco Loco; formerly Hagdorn House, office of “Kampf & Spindler”);

Corner of Benrather Straße Süd Nord – Itterbrücke (formerly Postbrücke) –Berliner Straße (Bar Hirschen; formerly Benrather 20);

Bridge over the Itter in Schwanenstrasse (Amber Hotel formerly Kirberg steam engine factory).

The night watchman received a ladder and a jug of purified rapeseed oil. He was responsible for the plugging and cleaning. The lanterns burned from dusk until 11 p.m. The annual operating costs of 50 thalers were passed on to the residents.

Once they got a taste for it, more and more residents wanted street lighting in front of their doors. In the period that followed, there were a large number of applications and four more oil lanterns were hung. Extended locations:

Corner of Elberfelder Strasse and Walder Strasse (Thomas Zoo; formerly Gottschalks Mühle, Reyscher & Bergmann dye works);

Crossing between Mittelstrasse 1a and Walder Strasse (Cafe Mommert, formerly the black plate factory Gerwien);

Walder Straße 24 (Kreuer funeral hall; formerly Waldeck and Nacke roller engraving facility);

Corner of Hochdahler Straße 83 – Hummelster (residential and care center in the city of Hilden; formerly the Society for Cotton Industry );

Coking plant gas plant

Shortly after obtaining city rights in 1861, the mayor Koennecke and the council began to work on the construction of a gas plant . The mayor Albert Koennecke asked Mettmann about gas production. Gas lamps had already been introduced in Mettmann. But the city's efforts did not go fast enough for the textile company Gressard & Co. In 1861 they built their own first coking plant on their site at today's Fritz-Gressard- Platz - a gas plant with a gasometer, which was on the site of today's town hall until 1882.

The public tender on June 17, 1861 was intended to prompt entrepreneurs to build a gas plant in Hilden. It was to be calculated with 1000 flames, 2/3 of them on factories.

The industrialists Johann Wilhelm Kampf, August Reyscher (1802–1869) and Peter Friedrich Gogarten formed a gas commission in 1863 . Under the leadership of Johann Wilhelm Kampf, a partnership limited by shares was set up on January 18, 1864 for the construction of the gas works. This KGaA was a forerunner of a stock corporation . The estimated 18,000 thalers should be drawn by the people of Hilden. On April 8, 1864, the companies Reyscher & Bergmann (dyeing and printing works), Waldeck & Nacke (roller engraving company), Kirberg & Hüls (mechanical engineering, steam engine boiler construction) and Ernst Pickardt & Jordan (synthetic wool spinning), the gas for only 10 years to be obtained from this gas company.

The city of Hilden wanted to invest 1000 talers in the gas works. Of this, 500 would have come from the budget and 500 to 4.5% through a bond. But since the budget was exceeded by 594 thalers and 4 silver groschen for poor purposes, the entire 1000 thalers had to be borrowed. It was not until the gas light had been on for three days that the city paid in its 1000 thalers on October 4, 1864.

Johann Wilhelm Kampf became the first managing director of the Hilden gas station W. Kampf & Cie. and held this position until 1871. It was on today's corner of Kirchhofstrasse 45 and Am Feuerwehrhaus. His son Ernst Wilhelm Kampf (born October 4, 1830 in Elberfeld; † March 27, 1877 in Sanremo ), managing director of Kampf & Spindler , became an authorized signatory .

The gas works went into operation on October 1, 1864. Hilden was now one of around 500 cities that allowed themselves the progress of gas supply through coal gasification . The gas lanterns illuminate the city center. The now 12 oil lanterns were moved to the outskirts in 1864. They burned until April 1, 1909.

The first gas container of 13,000 cubic feet (368 m³) plunged with its open side into a watertight basin with water. The first gas pipelines were 3,030 m long and the town gas fed 600 flames and was initially designed for 20 street flames. Town gas was expensive at that time, because Hilden did not yet have a train station in 1864 and the coal had to be brought in by horse-drawn cart from either Benrath or Solingen.

In 1864 the first 18 gas lamps lit the city center. In 1866 five more were added. Their locations were (with current and former location names):

• Corner of Walder Straße / Berliner Straße (at that time Mühlenstraße, hospital; formerly Jordan artificial wool spinning mill)
• Walder Straße (Kreuer funeral hall; formerly Waldeck and Nacke roller engraving facility)
• Corner of Mittelstrasse 1a / At the fork (Cafe Mommert, formerly Schwarzblechfabrik Gerwien)
• At fork 13 (formerly Elberfelder Straße)
• Corner of Elberfelder Straße / Berliner Straße (then Mühlenstraße, Thomas Zoo; formerly Gottschalks Mühle, Reyscher & Bergmann dye works)
• Corner of Mittelstraße / Kirchhofstraße (Schuhhaus Böhmer, formerly Haus Dissmann restaurant)
• Corner of Hochdahler Strasse / Hummelsterstrasse (residential and care center in the city of Hilden; formerly the Society for Cotton Industry)
• Mittelstraße 17 (Müller drugstore; formerly Gasthaus zur Krone )
• Corner of Mittelstrasse / Mühlenstrasse (gold source; formerly Friedrich van der Heiden dextrin factory)
• Mittelstraße ( town house formerly old town hall )
• Corner of Heiligenstraße / Am Kronengarten (Kastanienhof; formerly Jueck, Kupferschlägerei Mewis, herb factory August Vogelsang)
• Corner of Mittelstrasse / Bismarckstrasse (Commerzbank, formerly Sparkasse, city library)
• Corner of Markt / Mittelstraße – Axlerhof (Woywod & Kohel; formerly Axler butcher)
• Corner of Markt / Marktstrasse (Café Fricke)
• Corner of Mittelstrasse / Schulstrasse (Deutsche Bank, Plastic Urgent Buyer, Reformation Church )
• Corner of Schulstrasse / Robert-Gies-Strasse (Rottler – Streier glasses, post office)
• Corner of Mittelstrasse / Schwanenstrasse (Strauss)
• Schwanenstrasse at the Itterbrücke (Amber Hotel, formerly Kirberg steam engine factory)
• Corner of Schwanenstraße / Berliner Straße (formerly Apfelstraße) / Hoffeldstraße (Tollkamp glazier; formerly northern part of the Kirberg steam engine factory)
• Corner of Fritz-Gressard-Platz / Klotzstraße (Coco Loco; formerly Hagdorn House, Kampf & Spindler office)
• Fritz-Gressard-Platz (Steinhäuser Center; formerly the silk weaving mill Gressard & Cie.)
• Corner of Fritz-Gressard-Platz / Benrather Straße East-West (Wilhelm-Fabry-Museum; formerly Vogelsang grain distillery)
• Benrather Straße Süd-Nord, Itterbrücke (formerly Postbrücke) (Bar Hirsch; formerly Zur Postbrücke, Benrather 20)

At the beginning, 70 companies connected to the gas supply. Their numbers only rose slowly.

Johann Wilhelm Kampf resigned in 1873 as “guarantor” of the company and as managing director after sobering business figures and increased gas prices. On January 12, 1874, the gas works became part of the Hilden gas works August Vogelsang & Cie. Limited partnership over. It was only with the construction of the Düsseldorf – Hilden – Solingen railway and the Hilden train station in 1874 that the supply of coal was secured and the coal and thus the gas prices fell, and annual production rose to 118,000 m³ / in 1878. At the same time, the Hilden gas works at Gressard & Co. an annual production of 45,000 m³ / in 1878.

The city of Hilden acquired the Vogelsang & Cie. Gas works in 1884. including pipes and gas containers on Kirchhofstrasse in the best condition. The Stadtwerke Hilden were founded. They supply Hilden with gas, water and electricity.

social commitment

In 1855 the textile entrepreneurs Johann Wilhelm Kampf and August Reyscher bought 150 quintals of potatoes, which were sold to the population at reduced prices.

In September 1860, several companies donated to a fund to acquire a community hall . Johann Wilhelm Kampf donated 100 thalers, 60 thalers came from the silk weaving mill Gressard & Co.

Honors

In recognition of his service Johann Wilhelm fight was in 1863 by the Prussian I. King William the Crown, awarded the 4th class.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Paul-Spindler-Werke KG (ed.): Gert P. Spindler . Hilden 1956.
2. ↑ Rolf Jessewitsch (Red.), Ulrike Unger, Richard Odendahl: The history of the textile industry in Hilden. Hilden 1990.
3. ^ Gert P. Spindler: From the early history of the Paul Spindler works. In: Hildener Heimatblätter , born 1953, No. 6/7 (June / July).
4. ^ ^{A b} Elisabeth Weiß, Hildegard Spindler: History of the company Kampf & Spindler Hilden (Rhine). Festschrift for the 50th anniversary of Mr. Paul Spindler's work. Hilden 1939.
5. ^ Justus Perthes : Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the baronial houses. 63rd year, Gotha 1913, p. 580 f.
6. ↑ Gut und Haus Hagdorn on www.zeitspurensuche.de
7. ↑ ^{a b c} Wolfgang Wennig: History of the Hilden industry from the beginnings of commercial activity to the year 1900. (= Niederbergische contributions , volume 30.) Hilden town archive, Hilden 1974.
8. ↑ ^{a b c} Uli Schmidt: 150 years of Hilden city law. In: Rheinische Post from October 11, 2010.
9. ↑ Hubertus Franzen : Hilden as it was. Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1977, ISBN 3-7700-0482-5 .
10. ^ Karl-Martin Obermeier: 125 years city of Hilden, 1000 years old. Hertwig & Kirchner, Hilden 1986.
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Wolfgang Wennig: 100 years of gas in Hilden 1864–1964. Stadtwerke Hilden, Hilden 1964.
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Gerd Müller: Stadtwerke Hilden. Foundation, structure and history. Palmer Druck, Bergisch Gladbach 1984.
13. ^ The resolutions of the Hilden municipal council (1855–1877). In: Niederbergische Contributions , Volume 67 (2004), p. 177.