Johannes Doebel
Johannes Doebel (born November 2, 1835 in Erfurt , † July 2, 1908 in Gotha ) was an insurance specialist , politician and honorary citizen in Gotha, Thuringia .
Summary
From 1880 to 1905 Doebel was represented in the Gotha city council and from 1891 its chairman. Doebel had been the secret finance advisor of Gotha Fire Insurance Bank and its director since 1891. For a short time he accompanied the honorary office of a senator. From 1885 to 1894 he was active in the Gotha state parliament , the last three years as its vice-president. Doebel was also temporarily director of Gothaer Privatbank , which later became part of Deutsche Bank .
On his 70th birthday in 1905, a street in Gotha-Süd was named after Doebel.
On December 20, 1907, with the beginning of his retirement, he received honorary citizenship in Gotha.
Johannes Doebel died on July 2, 1908 in Gotha and was buried in the main cemetery.
origin
A Döbel family was already resident in Andreasstrasse at the time of the Thirty Years' War. The renaming to today's spelling “Doebel” took place only after 1820. All Döbels were master potters and, as good citizens, also held church and rifle offices. The first chub currently known by name is Johann Nikolaus Döbel, his son Johann Daniel Döbel was born on June 22, 1723. Like his father, he was a citizen and potter in Erfurt and it is reported that he was a member of the Hauptmannschaft St. Andreä, that is, a kind of church council of his community. During his time, the famous pedagogue Christian Gotthilf Salzmann (1744–1811) was pastor at the Andreaskirche from 1772 to 1781. On May 1, 1798, Johann Daniel Döbel found his final resting place in the cemetery of this church. He had two sons: Zacharias Bernhard and Elias. The former was Johannes Döbel's grandfather.
His grandparents, parents and siblings
The paternal grandfather of Johannes Doebel was Zacharias Bernhard Döbel, born on September 15, 1754. He married Maria Magdalena Kind, daughter of a baker, on September 26, 1795, born September 2, 1776. Their son was Johann Matthäus Döbel, who later changed the spelling changed his name to "Doebel". He was born on June 6, 1800 and initially continued his father's pottery in Erfurt, but then expanded the business into a clay and terracotta factory, in which he made figures, vases, busts and stoves from the clay cotrolyd. He later bought a bone mill that made leg black (a dye) and fertilizer.
On April 27, 1829 he married a daughter of the master saddler Michael Crone, Maria Christina Crone (February 1, 1802– March 25, 1859). Johann Matthäus had already bought a house called "Zum Hufeisen" in Erfurt in 1826 and acquired another property in 1849, Johannisstrasse 686. The ancestors of Maria Christina were originally farmers in Herbstadt near Königshofen, from there around the middle of the Emigrated to Witterda near Erfurt in the 17th century and relocated to Erfurt about 100 years later, where they also operated the saddlery in Johannisstraße. Maria Christina was Catholic, but due to her very liberal attitude, had her children baptized Evangelicals (all Doebels, as far as they can be proven, belonged to the Lutheran faith) and lived with her husband in a very happy marriage. They had four sons:
- Karl Doebel (1833–1872). After the death of his father, he took over the family business and continued to run it until his death. He remained unmarried.
- Johann (called Johannes) Michael Doebel, see below, this Wikipedia article is dedicated to him.
- Karl Theodor Doebel (1842–1908) was married to Ernestine Mansfeld. The marriage remained childless. Karl Theodor did not get along very well with his brother Johann Michael.
- Hermann Matthäus Doebel (1844–1909), authorized signatory in the Thyssen company and asset manager of the older Thyssen in Mülheim an der Ruhr. He was a splendid, very dear and good man who got along very well with his brother Johann Michael. He was married to Elise Waßmann, had 4 daughters and several grandchildren and further descendants.
His youth and education
Johann (called Johannes) Michael Doebel was born on November 2nd, 1835 in Erfurt. He was the second of four children from his parents. After finishing school, he began an apprenticeship as a banker at Bankhaus Stürcke in Erfurt at the age of 15 . The apprenticeship lasted from April 15, 1851 to April 15, 1855 and even after that he stayed with this employer until February 28, 1856 as a “clerk” (today one would say “commercial employee”). After a brief employment from March 1, 1856 to August 20, 1856 in the banking business "Fleck und Scheuer" in Düsseldorf, he moved to the discount company in Berlin as a correspondent and from December 27, 1860 as the first correspondent.
His military service
Johannes Doebel had to interrupt his work as a correspondent in Berlin from October 1, 1858 to September 30, 1859 to complete his military service. He was with the first twelve-pound battery of the Guards Artillery Brigade in Berlin. He was dismissed as a non-commissioned officer and reserve officer candidate. Five years later he was able to put what he had learned into practice because he took part in the Prussian and Austrian campaign against Denmark from January 22, 1864 to October 2, 1864. He had taken Cicero's works with him to read for peaceful hours and studied them during the siege of Fridericia. Later Johannes Doebel never spoke about his experiences in this campaign. At least one can infer some of his moods and feelings from his letters to his father, which still exist today. The experiences were essentially limited to endless marches and bivouacs and culminated in the relatively harmless siege of Friderica. The Prussians shelled the city, but the Danes did not return fire. He was appointed Vice Sergeant on May 27, 1864 and finally released back to Berlin on October 2, 1864, with the award of the war commemorative coin.
His marriage and his children
In August 1867, Johannes Doebel, who had been living and working in Gotha for a year, met his future wife, Antonie Burckhardt. Antonie lived in Langensalza and had visited a friend in Gotha, whose brother was in turn a friend of Johannes Doebel. Four of them went to the Gothaer Schützenfest and did a lot of other things together, and the engagement took place on September 21, 1867. The wedding took place on April 16, 1868 in the St. Bonifazius Church in Langensalza, the young couple then moved into the house at Bahnhofstrasse 10 (the house is still there today, but is now called Bahnhofstrasse 14). The large garden that belonged to the house and adjoined the bank in which Johannes Doebel worked became a beloved playground for the numerous children who Johannes Doebel could look forward to:
- Richard Doebel (1869–1917), he remained unmarried and made his way through life with odd jobs
- Hedwig Doebel (1872–1943), married to Gustav Nissen, became a famous concert pianist at the time. The extensive information in this article comes from some of your descendants.
- Margarethe Doebel (1873–1957), married to Pastor Herrman Müller, they had a son and she was a piano teacher.
- Elisabeth Doebel (1875–1940), married to Professor Dr. Johannes Teufer, they had three children.
- Otto Doebel (1877–1928) remained unmarried, had a technical profession and allegedly left an illegitimate daughter in Thuringia.
- Walther Doebel (1885–1963), married to Helene Rabich, they had two daughters.
About family life
The large garden around the house was a particular pleasure for Johannes Doebel. When he had finished his work on the bench in the evening, he would inspect his beloved roses, cut off dead blossoms and have the housemaid give him watering cans and even when it was very hot he sprinkled the garden with a water hose, which his children liked very much. Johannes Doebel and his wife Antonie were very sociable. Through many professional and private contacts, they had a very large circle of acquaintances, they were invited a lot and invited many friends to their house.
Over the years and with Johannes Doebel joining the bank's board of directors, obligations grew. Hardly a Sunday went by in winter without a dinner with lots of courses and wines among professional friends at three o'clock. But when the dinner took place with the Doebels themselves, a lot was done. In addition to the three closely furnished living rooms, the daughters' room was cleared and the table was opened there. The bank's castellan in green livery with gold buttons set the table the day before and selected the types of wine to go with each course. He then served together with a wage servant who also had to take on the artful napkin folding . An additional cook's wife led the regiment in the kitchen together with the daughters of the house.
Working life in Gotha
Since April 1, 1866, Johannes Doebel worked for the Gotha fire insurance bank. In the course of time he worked his way up in the organization and was appointed Finance Council on April 1, 1891 on the occasion of his 25th anniversary with the company. In 1905 he was appointed "secret finance councilor", on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Gothaer Privatbank, which later became part of Deutsche Bank. Johannes Doebel was a member of the Gothaer Privatbank Supervisory Board for several years, most recently as its chairman. On his 70th birthday, also in 1905, the connecting road between Gayerstrasse and Schäferstrasse in the southwest of the city was named after him. It survived the violent street name storms of 1919, 1933 and 1945 and is still called Doebelstraße today. On December 20, 1907, when Johannes Doebel retired, he received the highest distinction the city of Gotha could bestow , honorary citizenship of Gotha .
Activities in local politics
Johannes Doebel also devoted a great deal of his time and manpower to public services. Until 1890 he was a member of the Coburgisch-Gothaische Landtag for several years, he joined the liberal wing and fought speech battles with political opponents. But his voluntary work in the service of the city of Gotha was far more extensive. After a short time as a voluntary poor carer, he was elected to the city council in 1880 and from 1891 took over the office of city councilor. He also held the honorary post of senator in the city council from 1886 to 1897. He was active in the various branches of city administration, for example in the field of city finances, but also in the field of school, transport and health services. He is particularly active in building the dam near Tambach in the Thuringian Forest in order to remedy Gotha's chronic water shortage. Such a measure was still quite unusual at the time and was generally observed with the greatest suspicion. But it has proven itself brilliantly, and that is why his name was passed down to posterity next to that of the mayor on the iron commemorative plaque on the barrier wall.
Interest in art and science
In addition to all his work in the service of the fire bench and public administration, he also found time for numerous hobbies in art and science. Already at a young age he had thrown himself into German and French literature with real bee industry, so that even in old age he could declaim scenes from Goethe's Faust, Shakespeare's Hamlet and Julius Caesar (in the original text) by heart. History was also part of his constant reading. He had his children bring particularly thick tomes from the Gotha castle library, including some works that hardly anyone before him, but certainly no non-specialist, had studied and which afterwards probably fell back into a deep slumber for years. He once studied six thick folio volumes, History of the Popes by Raymond. For projects like this, his wife Antonie had a sturdy lectern built for him in front of his armchair. He knew more about Kant's writings and the systems of other philosophers than many an expert.
But he was particularly fond of the arts, including music and Italian painting. He loved music more than anything and when he was over 40 he began to take piano lessons from Professor Hermann Tietz in Gotha and he continued to practice diligently in later years, just as he did everything he did once. Later it bothered him a little when his daughter Hedwig surpassed him because of her education at the Berlin University of Music. With Professor Anton Maisch as violinist and the chamber virtuoso Gock from the Herzogliche Hofkapelle Gotha as cellist, and occasionally with other musicians, Johannes Doebel organized chamber music evenings at home for many years. Mostly classical music was played, because he categorically rejected music by Richard Strauss or even Max Reger, which was heard in the Musikverein or the Liedertafel in Gotha in his final years. Even Bruckner couldn't tell him anything. On the other hand, he greatly valued Brahms, whose symphonies were first heard in Gotha at the famous concerts of the Meiningen court orchestra under the ingenious baton of Fritz Steinbach. Above all, however, he valued Richard Wagner. Johannes Doebel repeatedly visited the Bayreuth Festival, where, among other things, he witnessed the first public performance of “Parsifal”.
characterization
In addition to his professional obligations, he was only able to pursue all of his interests through his tireless zest for work and never-ending energy. His extraordinary efficiency and his meticulous conscientiousness, in addition to his unconditional legality, were his salient traits. However, he demanded the same from others and despite all the pampering he gave his children, he could get extremely uncomfortable if something did not work out as he wanted and thought he could ask at school or elsewhere. But he never added anything for long, he used to express his opinion very clearly and emphatically and that ended the case and he never came back to it.
But all these traits were outshone by an infinite goodness, which was undoubtedly the basic trait of his character. This kindness had nothing to do with weakness or softness, it combined with his other traits to form a unity that was unparalleled.
Death and burial
Soon after his 70th birthday, which he was still able to celebrate in full freshness and health, a serious ailment made itself felt, which after a temporary improvement quickly increased and finally turned out to be incurable stomach cancer . On July 2, 1908, a few minutes after midnight, he was released from his suffering. On July 4th he was buried in Gotha Cemetery V. His coffin, which the city of Gotha had decorated with the citizen's crown and which was covered over and over with flowers, was preceded by the municipal bodies and the colleagues of his bank. He was followed by a mourning meeting the likes of which Gotha has seldom seen, to the sound of Chopin's funeral march played by the Gotha 95 Infantry Regiment band as a farewell. The grave still exists today in the honorary citizen's grove, the cemetery is now called the Gotha Main Cemetery. In the obituary of the city council it says: "His selfless work, distinguished by its rich successes, will remain unforgettable, his extensive charitable work is a promising example for the present and future generations."
swell
- Website of the city of Gotha
- Roob / Scheffler: Gotha personalities. Rhinoverlag, ISBN 3-932081-37-4 .
- From the private archive of his great-grandchildren
- Newspaper article from January 9, 1905
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Doebel, Johannes |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German politician and insurance specialist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 2, 1835 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Erfurt |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 2, 1908 |
| Place of death | Gotha |