Josef Buchmann

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Josef Buchmann

Josef Buchmann (* 1931 in Łódź ) is a German entrepreneur and patron of Polish-Jewish origin. He is an important real estate investor in Frankfurt am Main and is said to be one of the richest citizens in Germany . His fortune was estimated at around a billion euros in 2011. He is also the initiator of several foundations and charities, such as the Josef Buchmann Foundation, the Josef Buchmann Scholarship, the Buchmann Faculty of Law in Tel Aviv and the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt.

Life

Buchmann's youth were shaped by National Socialism ; he grew up mostly in the Auschwitz concentration camp . He survived as a 14-year-old, but his parents died in the extermination camp.

In the post-war years he worked as a bar and vaudeville owner in the Frankfurt train station district. With the purchase and construction of a residential and commercial building on Moselstrasse across from his “New York City Bar”, he began real estate business in the 1960s. On the ground floor, he built the “Imperial” nightclub , which became known throughout Germany. In 1966 he built the Shell skyscraper in Frankfurt's Nordend for the Shell Group, which was then the tallest building in the city .

In 1982 Buchmann had the idea for a high-rise building on the site of the former Palais Reichenbach-Lessonitz in the Westend . He had previously acquired the property and had an architectural design for a hotel building made. He later sold the property to the Munich entrepreneur Josef Schörghuber , who set up Deutsche Bank's headquarters there in the Deutsche Bank high-rise .

In the 1990s he acquired the Nordwestzentrum , one of the largest shopping malls in Germany, and converted it. The shopping center is still in his possession today. This is also where his place of work and the headquarters of his foundation, road construction company, construction company and property management company are located.

In 1988 he bought the Naxoshalle in Ostend, which was threatened with decay, and rented it to the city of Frankfurt, which set up a cultural center in the listed former factory hall. In 2006 the city of Buchmann bought the hall for an amount of 20 million euros.

He also built a dolphinarium in Tel Aviv and had 10,000 m² of sea drained. However, the building was reclaimed by the city after construction began, which led to a long struggle with the city until Buchmann finally sold the property for 50 million euros in 2015.

He has been in the foreground as a sponsor since the 1980s. He supported the construction of the new center for paediatrics and adolescent medicine at the Frankfurt University Hospital , which was named “Josef Buchmann Wing”. He also supported the clinic in purchasing the latest medical equipment. The Josef Buchmann laureate professorship was awarded by Josef Buchmann from 2004 to 2008 by the Frankfurt Friends' Association for basic physical research. In Senckenberg Museum is Buchmann Board of Trustees and supported the redesign of the bird hall. This is also named after him. In 2005 the music academy named after him in Tel Aviv was restructured, the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music .

Buchmann built up the Institute for Molecular Life Sciences at the Goethe University in Frankfurt through more than 30 years of funding , which is why he was made an honorary senator of the university in 2013 for his services, including many doctoral scholarships .

Honors

Buildings

The following structures were significantly financed by Buchmann or are among others in his possession:

Controversy

As part of the so-called Beker affair , Buchmann was attacked variously in the press in the early 1990s. During a house search in the Hersch Bekers office , investigators found evidence of Buchmann's involvement in real estate transactions between the Beker brothers and the city of Frankfurt. In its issue of July 9, 1990, Der Spiegel saw connections between Beker, Buchmann and the then CDU-led state government. In the ZDF report Mafia am Main broadcast on March 5, 1991 , Buchmann was named Frankfurt's godfather .

Buchmann always defended himself against the allegations and published advertisements across the city with the headline "I, Josef Buchmann, am being hunted by journalistic agitators". At no time was an investigation or proceedings initiated against him.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Frankfurt's richest citizens
  2. ^ Josef Buchmann Foundation
  3. ^ The Josef Buchmann grant
  4. ↑ Youth in the concentration camp
  5. ↑ Sale of the tower design to Deutsche Bank
  6. ^ Relocation of the Deutsche Bank
  7. ↑ Josef Buchmann runs the Northwest Center
  8. ^ City buys Naxos Hall
  9. ↑ Buchmann sells property for 50 million
  10. ↑ Vogelhalle named after Josef Buchmann
  11. ^ Institute named after Josef Buchmann
  12. ↑ The Goethe University appoints Josef Buchmann as an honorary senator
  13. ↑ Reach in the box . In: DER SPIEGEL . No.  28/1990 , July 9, 1990 ( digital archive ). in September 2014 supplemented by the editorial comment "The assumptions concerning Josef Buchmann have not yet been proven."
  14. ^ Newspaper clippings from the FAZ
  15. ↑ Portrait: Josef Buchmann , FAZ from April 14, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Buchmann, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur and patron of Polish-Jewish origin
DATE OF BIRTH 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Łódź