Josef Bartoň-Dobenín (textile entrepreneur, 1862)

Josef Bartoň-Dobenín [ˈbartɔ̹ɲˌdɔ̹bɛniːn] , also Josef Bohumil Bartoň-Dobenín ; born as Josef Bartoň ; 1912–1918 Josef Bartoň z Dobenína (born June 8, 1862 in Vysoká Srbská , Náchod district , Kingdom of Bohemia ; † April 22, 1951 in Nové Město nad Metují , Náchod district, Czechoslovakia ) was a textile entrepreneur in the Austrian- speaking region from 1890 to 1918 Hungarian monarchy and then until 1951 in Czechoslovakia. He was also an important patron .

Career

Josef Bartoň came from a family of house weavers and linen merchants from Žďárky ( Kleinbrand ), which was in the Königgrätzer district and belonged to the Nachod domain . His father Josef Bartoň founded the Bartoň textile company in Staré Město nad Metují ( Old Town ) in 1885 , in which his four sons were initially employed. Josef learned textile dyeing from his father. In 1879/80 he trained in dye works in Chvaleč ( Qualisch ) near Trautenau and in Friedeck and Mistek . He then attended the weaving school in Náchod. Then he worked in his father's dye works and from 1885 he was involved in the management of the mechanical weaving, textile dyeing and printing in Bražec ( Braschetz ). In 1890 Josef became a partner in his father's company, in 1894 his younger brother Cyril each with a third share.

Since the textile dye works of the eldest brother Ladislav in Bohemian Skalitz was largely destroyed by floods on June 30, 1897, Josef temporarily joined his company as a partner and managing director. After he succeeded in rebuilding and renovating, he returned to his father's company in Staré Město in 1903. In 1902 the father left the company and transferred the company shares that had previously belonged to him to his sons Josef and Cyril.

In 1904 the two brothers bought the "Šrůtkův statek" farm in Staré Město. On the site they built a factory building for a cotton weaving mill, which was equipped with textile machines from the English company Dobson and Barlow. The existing systems were modernized and converted to electrical operation. In 1908 the company, which was considered the most modern in Europe at the time, employed around 800 workers; the number of spindles was 73,344. In the same year he and his brother Cyril acquired the large estate ( velkostatek ) Neustadt an der Mettau as well as the castle there , which Josef used as the family seat. During the First World War, production stagnated because the necessary raw materials could not be obtained in full. From the 1920s the company was able to expand extensively thanks to the great demand from abroad. In 1937 Josef left the company. His successor was his son Václav Bartoň-Dobenín (1909–1982), who led the company together with his cousin Josef Bartoň-Dobenín (1897–1972; son of Cyril), who had already joined the company in 1923, until the expropriation in 1945. Václav Bartoň-Dobenín emigrated with his family to Germany in 1948 and a short time later to Canada. After the political change in 1992, the textile factory was restituted to his descendants .

Services to the common good

Chapel of St. Agnes in the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague

Like his father of the same name, Josef Bartoň-Dobenín was also active as a patron in the social and cultural field. He donated the land and funds to the city ​​of Neustadt an der Mettau for the construction of an infirmary ; a year later he financed one in Náchod. He also made funds available for the construction of an orphanage and a school. Together with his brother Cyril, he financed the furnishing of a side chapel for St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague . Agnes of Bohemia and was completed in 1939. In the chapel there is a mural depicting the praying company founder Josef Bartoň-Dobenín and his three sons. During the communist era it was taped up with wallpaper. Ten years earlier, the brothers had donated a valuable Marian panel to St. Vitus Cathedral, which they had acquired from the collection of Counts Pálffy . The Prague National Museum they found funds for the purchase of several exhibits available.

In 1908 Josef Bartoň acquired the Neustadt an der Mettau Castle , which was no longer used for residential purposes in the second half of the 19th century and was therefore in a poor structural condition. The castle buildings were refurbished and extensively renovated and equipped over the next few years according to plans by the architect Dušan Jurkovič . Although it served his family as a representative residence, parts of the palace and the park were open to the general public.

See also: Bartoň-Dobenín (entrepreneurial family)

literature

• Lydia Baštecká and Ivana Ebelová: Náchod . Náchod 2004, ISBN 80-7106-674-5 , pp. 162-201
• Ivan Česka: Rod Bartoňů z Dobenína . In: Rodným Krajem . Issue 20, 2000, pp. 42-44; Issue 21, 2001, pp. 20-21; Issue 22, 2001, pp. 40-41; Issue 23, 2001, pp. 20-21
• Historická encyklopedie podnikatelů Čech, Moravy a Slezska . Ostrava 2003, ISBN 80-7042-612-8 , p. 33.

Web links

• Chapel of St. Agnes, the so-called Bartoň Chapel in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague
• Short bibiography in Biografický slovník (Biographical Dictionary) , in Czech, with photo (accessed May 24, 2020)
• Short bibiography in the Bibliography on the History of the Bohemian Lands ( Bibliography dějin Českých zemí ke stažení ) in the Czech language, with a reproduction of a painting (accessed May 24, 2020)