Josef Baumann (barber)

Josef Baumann (* 1815 in Hardheim ; † July 10, 1874 in Buchen ) was a German bath and barber . Well known as an eccentric animal lover, he was considered the king of barbers by contemporaries for his record breaking achievement of shaving 94 men in an hour .

Life

His exact date of birth is unknown. In ancient sources, 1803 was given as the year of birth, but according to recent research, he was not born until 1815. He came from Hardheim and after traveling to England and North America came to Buchen in 1854, where he settled as a bath and barber. He acquired a building in downtown Buchen as well as a large garden plot with a lake and a pigeon house outside the village. Baumann kept canaries and parrots as well as a tamed raven in his pigeon house . In the lake he bred required for the practice Bader leeches , he used himself not only, but with which he also acted. Baumann kept numerous other animals, including a fox, which he used to carry on a long chain. The eccentric not only made a name for himself as an animal lover, he was also soon known nationwide because of his professional skills.

After the press reported in 1858 that an English barber had set a record by shaving 70 men in an hour , Baumann saw this as a challenge. On December 1, 1858, he invited to the Buchen Council Chamber to attempt a record . There ten chairs were set up in a circle, on which volunteers sat down to shave, which were brushed on by four journeymen, while two other journeymen sharpened the knives, Baumann scurried from one chair to the next and wielded the knife with a nimble hand and two other journeymen that Checked result. The record attempt was monitored by officials; the Großeicholzheim lithographer Jakob Fehr captured the scene in the picture. After an hour, Baumann had shaved 94 men and far exceeded the record of the English barber. His achievement was considered a national act. Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden awarded Baumann a medal and named him in his letter as the king of the barbers . The engraving by Fehr, which shows the record attempt under the title Final Rehearsal of Schnell-Barbier-Kunst in the town hall of the official city of Buchen , was widely used - in various newspapers and especially in barber shops.

The eccentric Baumann enjoyed his fame, due to which some peculiarities were forgotten. In the event of disputes, he often withdrew to his lake property, where in May 1874 he set up a bathing establishment with restoration. His pigeon house was also his refuge after he shot his wife down with a shotgun in a fit of jealousy on July 10, 1874. There he judged himself by piercing his neck.

In 2008, the city of Buchen organized an action weekend for the hairdressing trade in memory of Baumann's record 150 years ago. In addition, the Barbier-Baumann-Strasse in Buchen is named after him.

literature

• Gerhard Layer: The "King of the Barbers". The Buchen surgeon Josef Baumann died 120 years ago . In: Unser Land , Heidelberg 1994, pp. 192–196.
• Gerlinde Trunk: 150 years of barber Baumann: Bathers and barbers in Buchen . In: Der Wartturm , 49. 2008, 3. - pp. 3-9.