Josef Willmann

Josef Willmann (* 1862 in Lucerne ; † 1943 there ) was an international businessman in the iron and coal trade, as well as an art collector and patron. He came from a respected family of art locksmiths and was one of the most famous Lucerne residents of his time.

origin

His family came from St. Peter in the Black Forest, from where his ancestor, Josef Willmann (1754–1831), one of the most important art locksmiths of his time, settled in Lucerne in 1787. The patricians as well as the clergy gladly took his services. This brought the family to prosperity, all the more so when they added an extensive iron and coal trade to the art locksmith's shop. The family associated with statesmen and church people and maintained contacts with well-known artists (Zünd, Schwegler, Pfyffer, Zelger).

The entrepreneur

The family's reputation is also reflected in the fact that Josef Willmann was introduced to Queen Victoria in 1868 at the age of six with his younger sister, accompanied by their mother, at an arranged meeting on the Lucerne Quai-Promenade while she was on vacation in Lucerne. He also met Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1893 when he was in Lucerne, which was very useful to him in terms of business, as he had taken over the company from his father in the same year. Soon he was able to expand this into an overseas trading house. Thanks to his expertise, he sat on the board of directors of the steam ship company, the Lucerne brewery Eichhof and on the board of directors of the Swiss National Bank .

Devoted to art and culture

His judgment on economic issues was as much in demand as his knowledge of art history, because he was also an art collector. He got this passion from his mother, who came from the Lucerne artist and lithographer family Eglin . Josef Willmann was just as committed to the city council as he was to non-profit, cultural and social associations. In particular, he was a generous guild master of the traditional saffron guild . He was also an excellent rider and lover of thoroughbred teams of horses. He was no less fascinated by modern technology, and so he was found in the forefront when Lucerne took a bold step into the future with the airship Ville de Lucerne .

Residence and family

Joseph Willmann House. Franz Urs Balthasar (1689–1763) and Joseph Anton Felix Balthasar lived here at Kapellplatz 7, Lucerne

Josef Willmann lived with his mother and sister in the patrician house on Kapellplatz, which his grandfather, businessman and captain Ferdinand Willmann (1800–1879), had once acquired. Kapellplatz was Lucerne's most prestigious address, especially at the time of the Belle Époque , when upper-class citizens and patricians were among themselves here in Victorian-Wilhelmine tranquility.

The relationship with his sister was difficult because, unlike her proud brother, she was aristocratic and had a noble way of life. She lordly surrounded herself with precious antiques and was delighted when one of her daughters married a member of a patrician family in Lucerne. The relationship with the brother was also difficult because it was she who lived in the prestigious piano nobile, which only changed in 1927 with the death of her husband.

Since 1887 Josef Willmann had been married to Anna Ronca from a respected family who had immigrated from Como and who were related to the Brentano and von Arnim families. In 1918 he suffered a severe blow of fate when his only son died of the Spanish flu. During the Second World War, Josef Willmann had acquired a country estate with a wonderful panoramic view not far from the city, probably for the purpose of self-sufficiency, which his daughter Emilie (1899–1973) later transformed into that idyllic Arcadia , which in its elegant Biedermeier ambience is always represented of English hunting and country scenes.

The Foundation

In 1943 Josef Willmann dedicated his property on Kapellplatz, once the patrician seat of the important Balthasar and Schumacher families , including its collections to the city of Lucerne as the Josef Willmann Foundation . No doubt he wanted to secure the continuity of his life's work in this way after the loss of his son. For a long time it was said: what the Von-Wattenwyl-Haus is for Bern , the patrician seat on Kapellplatz is for Lucerne. The house became a meeting place for prominent guests, not only because of the furnishings, but also because the building is rich in historical life.

swell

• Family files, State Archive Lucerne (StALU, FamA): Private archive of the Schumacher-de Gottrau (PA 1211 / 1-226)

literature

• R. Schumacher: The Willmann Eglin family and their descendants. Central and university library as well as Lucerne State Archives, Lucerne 2001, DNB 97972645X .
• Foundation Joseph Willmann-Haus (ed.): Foundation Joseph Willmann-Haus Luzern 1987, OCLC 717863140 .