Josef von Kühn

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Kassin: Portrait relief of Josef von Kühn, 1913

Josef von Kühn (born December 5, 1833 in Vienna , † April 10, 1913 in Vienna ) was an Austrian philanthropist . He was the founder and president of the First Vienna People's Kitchen Association , City Council of Vienna, and a member of the Federal Committee of the Austrian Red Cross .

Origin and life

Joseph Kühn was born on December 5, 1833 in Vienna-Wieden and was baptized in St. Carl on the same day . His father, Johann Kühn, was an Imperial and Royal Invoice Officer, house owner and member of the Vienna City Council, as well as one of the eight directors of the Vienna District Hospital in Wieden. His mother Anna came from the wealthy postmaster family Prettenhofer in Neunkirchen , a post office on Semmeringstrasse from Vienna to Grätz (today Graz) . The grandfather Franz Prettenhofer was a member of the shareholders' committee of the Austrian National Bank, and in 1844 the parents were able to acquire Guntramsdorf Castle near Vienna.

After completing his legal studies including his doctorate, Josef Kühn worked in the court service and in the State Ministry. In 1865 he gave up the post of civil servant in order to devote himself to political and above all charitable activities as a private person. On 17 July 1875 he married in Vienna Oberdöbling Emma Pfeningberger, a daughter of the property owner and oilcloth factory owner Josef Pfeningberger. The couple then lived in Vienna and Guntramsdorf , where their two daughters were born.

Josef Kuhn was a knight of the Franz Joseph Order, and received in 1909 the title of nobility " Edler von Kuhn," but he died four years later on April 10, 1913. The City of Vienna granted him an honorary grave at the Central Cemetery and named the Kühnplatz in Wieden by him.

Community service

Volksbank on the Wieden

At the beginning of 1868, Kühn, together with a bookbinder and a master carpenter, applied to the governor to found a Volksbank on the Wieden based on the model of the German social reformer Schulze-Delitzsch . In his paper "About advance payment associations as Volksbanken", Kühn pointed out that craftsmen and small traders have so far had little prospect of a loan at acceptable interest rates and that there are already more than 1000 such advance payment associations in Germany, in the German-speaking areas of Austria ( Cisleithania ) but only 19 clubs. The newly founded "Wiedener Volksbank" advance payment association soon had 350 members, survived the Vienna stock market crash of 1873 unscathed and remained in existence for two decades until 1891.

First Vienna People's Kitchen Association

At the end of the 19th century, Vienna was not only the glamorous imperial capital and residence city, there was also a dark side "in the shadow of the Ringstrasse". In order to alleviate the misery there not with alms, but with food at cost price, Kühn, as a member of the district committee Vienna-Wieden, invited a larger circle of gentlemen to the district's parish hall in October 1869 to establish an association for the establishment and Management of a people's kitchen according to the principle of self-preservation, which has been tried and tested in Germany, namely in Berlin, to discuss without making a profit. Although Kühn's proposal received applause, it was rejected by a large majority because they had already had experience with such undertakings. The Rumford soup establishments existed in Vienna for two years and then dissolved. In addition, it is quite unlikely that there would be enough women and girls in Vienna who would be willing to take turns acting as ladies of honor when serving food at the buffet.

Three years later, Kühn made a new, but this time successful, attempt to found a people's kitchen association. Together with the Wiedener district chairman and kk court purveyor Franz Winkler von Forazest , as well as three other citizens, he created a program in April 1872, which was sent out in several thousand copies. In addition, the founders endeavored to get the help of generous women, who joined in large numbers and thus significantly promoted the efforts. In the constituent assembly of November 10, 1872, the predominantly bourgeois members approved the statute of the "First Viennese People's Kitchen in the Wieden District", so that the first eatery in Vienna IV, Hechtengasse (today Rienößlgasse) could already be opened on January 22, 1873. Within a few years, the First Vienna People's Kitchen Association opened three more people's kitchens in the I., VI. and VII. district.

Breitwieser: A people's kitchen in Vienna , 1880

In other districts, the First Vienna People's Kitchen Association initially limited itself to the active support of six other, legally independent people's kitchen associations. This included the First Leopoldstadt People's Kitchen Association, which Princess Marie zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst , the wife of the Imperial Supreme Court Master Konstantin zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst , founded. Also in Leopoldstadt was a people's kitchen based on the Israelite rite, which provided kosher food for the Jewish population.

High visitors

Only a few weeks after the opening, Emperor Franz Josef personally visited the First Vienna People's Kitchen in Wieden on March 12, 1873 , where Kühn received him and introduced him to the most important employees. After inspecting the kitchen, the emperor tasted the dishes himself and praised their good taste. Then he went into the crowded dining rooms and asked the guests how satisfied they were. After half an hour's stay, the emperor again expressed his appreciation for the charitable work of this philanthropic institute.

On February 11, 1874, Empress Elisabeth also paid a longer visit to the First Viennese People's Kitchen. She boldly received her at the entrance and introduced her to his staff. After a thorough inspection of the kitchen and dining rooms, Kühn thanked the institute for the high distinction and recognition. A few months after this visit, on July 10, 1874, the Empress took over the patronage of the First Vienna People's Kitchen Association as " Protector ".

On April 19, 1875, the Empress and her lady-in-waiting, Countess Goëss , walked unannounced to the city center folk kitchen in Schönlaterngasse. She was amazed at the good development of the Volksküche in Vienna and expressed her lively approval and appreciation. This visit was recorded in a painting by the painter August Heinrich Mansfeld . Just eight days after his mother, Crown Prince Rudolf also visited the people's kitchen in Schönlaterngasse on April 27, 1875.

August Heinrich Mansfeld - Visit of the Empress Elisabeth in the Volksküche 1875

City Council of Vienna

From 1873 to 1886 Kühn was a liberal member of the Vienna City Council. Before his election, Kühn had promised that he would campaign for the abolition of the "electoral body", which was graded according to tax performance, although it was not until 1885 that a slight improvement came about. The Viennese municipal calendar of these years mentions Kühn's participation in the school construction committee, local school council, district school council of the city of Vienna, the tax reform commission and as an applicant for the commission for the protection of the forests in the high spring area. He was also a member of the management of the St. Josef Children's Hospital. After the end of his local council work he was a member of the Central Council for the Poor in Vienna.

Reform, expansion and safeguarding of the popular kitchens

During Kühn's time on the council, two of the independently operated people's kitchens got into trouble, one of them ( Alservorstadt ) had to close after losses. Although the First Vienna People's Kitchen Association was not directly affected by this, Kühn devoted himself to reforming, expanding and securing the First Vienna People's Kitchen Association with all his might. As a prerequisite for this, the organization was made tighter and more centralized and regulated by service regulations. The management of the kitchens was carried out by paid “club officials” and separated from the voluntary supervision of the association. A kitchen revision was created and the uniform quality of the dishes was ensured by means of a tried and tested "normal cookbook". Finally, the professional training of people's kitchen landlords was regulated.

At the end of 1887, the club's fifth people's kitchen was built in the workers' district of Favoriten , where a large part of the poorest population lived. New kitchens followed in Ottakring , Hernals -Ottakring, Alservorstadt , Fünfhaus , Brigittenau and in what was then Zwischenbrücken . After the previously independent Landstraßer Volksküche merged with the association, the Erste Wiener Volkskücheverein had eleven restaurants of its own in 1895, with three more in preparation.

In order to secure its long-term existence, the association set up a foundation in 1888 with a share capital of 40,000 guilders, most of which came from a charity bazaar held by Princess Johanna von Auersperg , who had since died in 1876. The foundation's assets were used to purchase a building site in Vienna-Wieden on which the "Kaiser Franz Josef Foundation House" was built. In addition to the Wiedener Volksküche, the foundation house also housed rental apartments, from the proceeds of which the building loan was repaid. Even if the foundation house was rated as an “ apartment building ” in an anonymous newspaper commentary , it later ensured the continued existence of the people's kitchens in the times of need of the First World War.

Bold as a technician

The lawyer Kühn developed remarkable technical innovations in the people's kitchens, about which he reported in several writings. Decades before pressure cookers were first available in households, the Viennese people's kitchens, after several years of studies and experiments, introduced cooking under steam pressure to Papin , which cut fuel consumption and cooking times in half. There was also less heat and haze in the kitchens.

In a series of tests, Kühn determined the best thermal insulation for the "food transport crockery" with which hot food could be transported from the people's kitchen to external delivery points. At the International Exhibition for Folk Nutrition in the Rotunda in Vienna on May 5, 1894, in the presence of Field Marshal Archduke Albrecht, 500 portions of goulash with rice were filled in felt transport boxes (Dr. Kühn system). When the then heir to the throne Archduke Karl Ludwig visited the exhibition the following day , the container was opened again after 24 hours. The contents were still steaming warm and received the most flattering recognition from the distinguished guest.

School meals service

In 1887 the Mayor of Vienna Eduard Uhl and several local councilors founded the "Central Association for the Feeding of Poor School Children", which was supposed to offer the poorest schoolchildren a warm lunch in the winter months. Because of the food delivery, Kühn was also included in the Centralverein's administrative board. The first school meals took place either in public kitchens or in rooms close to the school, such as gyms. Later, the Central Association set up two special school kitchens in working-class districts, which were operated by the First Vienna People's Kitchen Association in addition to the 13 people's kitchens belonging to the association.

The number of pupils fed daily rose from initially 2,600 to over 10,000 within twenty years. Even if this was only a small part of all pupils, Mayor Lueger in 1906 was pleased that the question of feeding the poor schoolchildren was so happy and general Satisfaction was resolved and expressed his warmest thanks to the Volkskücheverein, but especially to its tireless President Kühn. Nevertheless, a few years later Kühn was accused of excessive billing. After an examination of the books by city officials, however, Lueger's successor, Josef Neumayer , confirmed that Kühn's and the Volkskücheverein's approach to providing food for the poor schoolchildren had always been completely correct and had supported and promoted the interests of the Central Association in accordance with the agreements made .

In addition to the Central Association for the Feeding of Poor School Children, the Institutes for the Poor in the municipality of Vienna and numerous humanitarian associations also acquired food brands from the People's Kitchen Association to feed those in need, including the Student Convicte and the Technician Support Association at the Vienna University of Technology.

Food for the Red Cross

As a member of the Federal Committee of the Austrian Red Cross , Kühn dealt in several of his writings with catering in Red Cross facilities such as hospital wards, Red Cross hospitals and convalescent homes. In this sense, the Volksküche-Verein provided morning, lunch and evening meals for the hospital ward of the "Austrian Patriotic Aid Society of the Red Cross" at Vienna's Nordbahnhof even in peacetime. In the event of a mobilization, the Volksküche-Verein planned to provide transit food to the mobilized and to feed the families of the mobilized in need. In the event of an epidemic, the People's Kitchen Association kept three housekeepers trained in hospital service on standby.

During the earthquake disaster in Ljubljana (today Ljubljana, Slovenia) in the spring of 1895, the First Vienna People's Kitchen Association was able to put these plans into practice. At 5 p.m., 4,000 portions of burnt-in lentils were cooked in Vienna, put in food transport crockery, transported to Ljubljana on the kk Südbahn and distributed free of charge to the population at five different places in the city the next day at 1 a.m. On the second day, 2000 portions of goulash with rice were cooked in Vienna in the same way and distributed in Laibach. On the third day, the association's emergency kitchen, which had meanwhile been transported to Ljubljana, was put into operation by one of the housekeepers, so that 2,000 to 3,000 portions of food could be served there for eight weeks.

After the death of Josef Kühn

The First World War broke out one year after Kühn's death. Under Kühn's successor Ferdinand Dehm , the association now operated 15 Viennese kitchens, supplied mobilized people through and through, and supplied sick food for several Red Cross hospitals and convalescent homes. Despite the difficult procurement of food, the number of servings served doubled from 14 million in 1914 to 28 million in 1917, but this used up the financial reserves of the association.

In the last summer of the war in 1918, Frieda Hussarek, the daughter of Josef Kühn and wife of the Imperial and Royal Prime Minister Hussarek von Heinlein , together with Mayor Weiskirchner , said goodbye to 1,100 Viennese children at the Ostbahnhof on vacation to Hungary. For her meritorious work in the field of war welfare, Frieda received the "Iron Salvator Medal" of the City of Vienna in May 1919 from the Vienna City Council under Vice-Mayor Reumann .

After the World War, the people's kitchens had a hard time fighting. Groceries were expensive and difficult to obtain, and food prices had to be increased, which impoverished guests could no longer afford. Finally in 1923 all kitchens of the First Vienna People's Kitchen Association had to be closed. However, by switching to Eugenie Schwarzwald's "communal kitchen" system , the new club president Maximilian Chawrat was able to reopen the remaining eleven kitchens after just four months.

Among the well-wishers for the reopening of the Volksküche and the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding was the Austrian President Michael Hainisch . In front of a portrait bust of Kühn, the Federal President recalled that he had already met the founder of the Viennese kitchen as a boy. Kühn's act is all the more remarkable since social work was still completely unknown at the time. The reopening of the Volksküche is also a day of honor for the late founder. Kühn's son-in-law, former Prime Minister, was also present. D. Hussarek then thanked the Federal President for the honorable memory.

Fifteen years later, after the annexation of Austria , the people's kitchens were also brought into line and at the beginning of 1939 incorporated into the NS Volkswohlfahrt .

Fonts (selection)

  • Volksbank on the Wieden. In: Neues Wiener Tagblatt. January 5, 1868, p. 10 ( anno.onb.ac.at ).
  • Via advance payment associations as Volksbanken. Association for Economic Progress, Vienna 1868 ( data.onb.ac.at ).
  • The Red Cross and the projected Samaritan League. , Riessner and Werthner, Vienna 1893 ( data.onb.ac.at ).
  • Advantageous use of the Papin cooking system for preparing food on a large scale. Reissner, Vienna 1895 ( data.onb.ac.at ).
  • The Red Cross and the State Food Service. Reisser & Werthner, Vienna 1900 ( data.onb.ac.at ).
  • Guide for the self-directed catering service at the Association Reserve Hospitals of the Austrian Society of the Red Cross. Reisser & Werthner, Vienna 1900 ( data.onb.ac.at ).
  • The food transport dishes (Dr. Kühn system) in the service of public welfare and voluntary war nursing. Reisser, Vienna 1905 ( data.onb.ac.at ).
  • To prevent a hospital emergency in future wars. Reisser's sons, Vienna 1908 ( data.onb.ac.at ).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Hofbauer: The Wieden with the noble seats Conradswerd, Mühlfeld, Schaumburgerhof and the open space Hungerbrunn. Publisher Karl Gorischek, Vienna 1864 urn : nbn: de: bvb: 12-bsb10009799-4 , p 63 ( digitale-sammlungen.de ).
  2. ↑ Court and State Handbook of the Austrian Empire . Part 2. kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1844, p. 305 ( books.google.de ).
  3. ^ Shareholders' Committee of the Austrian National Bank. In:  Wiener Zeitung , December 3, 1822, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz
  4. ↑ Entry about guntramsdorf in the castle archive on Burgen-Austria
  5. ^ Pastor Josef Knoll: Chronicle of the market town of Guntramsdorf and the parishes of Guntramsdorf. Marktgemeinde Guntramsdorf, 6th improved edition, Guntramsdorf 2004, no ISBN, p. 72 and p. 89.
  6. ↑ marriage with Emma Pfeningberger. In:  Morgen-Post , July 18, 1875, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / maintenance / mop
  7. ↑ a b Brigitte Ponta-Zitterer: The Carinthian sculptor Josef Kassin (1856–1931). In: Dissertation University of Graz. 2018, p. 267 and p. 349.
  8. ↑ Wiedener Volksbank. In: Neues Wiener Blatt. August 22, 1874, p. 5.
  9. ^ Dissolution of the Wiedener Volksbank. In: New Free Press. March 18, 1891, p. 10.
  10. ↑ Helmut Walla: In the shadow of the Ringstrasse: the other Vienna around 1900. In: Familia Austria. Austrian Society for Genealogy and History, Series No. 2, Vienna 2017.
  11. ^ Lina Morgenstern : The people kitchens in Berlin . In: The Gazebo . Issue 27, 1866, pp. 431 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).
  12. ↑ Leopoldstädter Volksküche. In: New Foreign Journal. December 29, 1872, p. 2.
  13. ↑ The emperor in the people's kitchen. In:  Neues Fremd-Blatt , March 13, 1873, p. 17 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfb
  14. ↑ The Empress in the People's Kitchen. In:  Die Presse , February 11, 1874, p. 18 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / maintenance / apr
  15. ↑ Surprising visit from the Empress. In:  Neue Freie Presse , April 20, 1875, p. 5 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp
  16. ^ First Vienna People's Kitchen Association. In: Wiener Zeitung. May 25, 1876, pp. 1-2.
  17. ↑ Club history. In: Illustrirtes Wiener Extrablatt. March 1, 1873, p. 5.
  18. ↑ Felix Czeike (Ed.): Electoral body. In:  Historisches Lexikon Wien . Volume 5, Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-218-00547-7 , p. 572 ( digitized version ).
  19. ↑ The Viennese people's kitchens and civil charity. In: Arbeiter-Zeitung. September 16, 1892, p. 3.
  20. ↑ International exhibition in the rotunda. In: The press. May 5, 1894, p. 9.
  21. ^ The relief campaign for starving school children. In: The press. October 16, 1897, p. 14.
  22. ↑ Feeding out poor schoolchildren. In: Fatherland. April 12, 1906, p. 10.
  23. ^ First Vienna People's Kitchen Association. In: Wiener Zeitung. June 23, 1912, p. 6.
  24. ↑ Beef with vegetables 26 hellers. In: Illustrierte Kronen-Zeitung. May 31, 1917, p. 8.
  25. ↑ The food supply. In: Illustrierte Kronen-Zeitung. May 8, 1918, p. 5.
  26. ↑ New children's special trains to Hungary. In: Reichspost. August 5, 1918, p. 4.
  27. ↑ Resolution protocol of May 8, 1919. In: Official Gazette of the City of Vienna No. 40 of May 17, 1919, p. 1153.
  28. ↑ The public kitchens closed. In: Arbeiter-Zeitung. May 31, 1923, p. 4.
  29. ^ Reopening of the Viennese Volksküche. In: Neues Wiener Tagblatt. September 11, 1923, p. 5.
  30. ↑ Instead of "Volkskucheln" - real restaurants. In: Kleine Volks-Zeitung. January 3, 1939, p. 5
personal data
SURNAME Kühn, Josef von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kühn, Josef Edler from
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian philanthropist, founder of the Wiener Volksküche
DATE OF BIRTH December 5, 1833
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna , Austrian Empire
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 1913
Place of death Vienna , Austria-Hungary