Joseph Schweig

Joseph Schweig (born February 3, 1850 in Bretzenheim , Rhineland, † September 1, 1923 in Weißwasser , Oberlausitz) was a German glass industrialist and politician.

Life

Schweig, who was of Jewish faith, was born in Bretzenheim an der Nahe in 1850. He was the child of wealthy parents. His father, Benedikt Schweig, had achieved some prosperity in the fruit and wine trade. Joseph attended high school in Bad Kreuznach . He was a soldier in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. Then he did a commercial apprenticeship in Hamburg. There he met his wife Henrietta Nathanson (born January 4, 1848), a merchant's daughter.

On April 1, 1881, Joseph Schweig moved with his family to Weißwasser, which at that time had around 1,000 inhabitants. First he worked in the Weisswasser lignite works of his brother-in-law Emil Mayer, which he had leased for 30 years. In 1889 he founded with his brother- Oberlausitzer Glaswerke J. Schweig & Co . Initially, the company produced medicine and candy jars. From 1891, production was expanded to include glass tubes and incandescent lamps. In the period that followed, production could be expanded and further plants were added. Schweig founded the Neue Oberlausitzer Glashüttenwerke Joseph Schweig & Co as early as 1899 . The factory, which concentrated on the production of electric light bulbs, was, in the opinion of contemporaries, vastly oversized. However, after a few years development proved him right. Silence came to some prosperity as a result. In 1905 he brought the company, founded in 1899, into a stock corporation under the leadership of AEG . This is where the collaboration with Paul Mamroth from AEG began, which lasted until his death.

In 1894, Schweig supported the construction of the power station with a financial contribution. In 1910 he gave the city 10,000 marks so that it could build a town hall. In 1922 he donated the Glasmacherbrunnen at the train station in memory of those who fell in World War I. The fountain was demolished in 1978 and rebuilt in 2002.

In 1898 the enlarged family moved into a villa. Her marriage to Henrietta Schweig (1848–1903) resulted in the children Hedwig (1878–1962), Martin (1880–1913), Sophie (1883–1913) and Bruno (1896–1986).

Schweig was involved in local politics in Weißwasser and beyond. In 1885 he was elected to the municipal council. He remained in this position until 1923. He held various functions. In 1914 he was mayor of the city of Weißwasser. As chairman of the cemetery deputation, he directed the establishment of a new cemetery in 1909. A contract with the community ensured that the burial of Jewish citizens was possible. In doing so, he completed a project that began in 1903 with the purchase of land for the construction of a Jewish cemetery area.

Joseph Schweig also did voluntary work in various associations. Among other things, he founded the house and property association, the invalids association and the fruit and horticultural association. The volunteer fire brigade of Weißwasser appointed him 1st fire chief.

On December 20, 1918, he was a founding member of the DDP, which worked on site with the SPD. There was silence on the basis of the Weimar constitution. He was exposed to anti-Semitic attacks several times. For example, he was violently attacked by the Reichstag member Friedrich Hegenscheidt in the 1911/12 election campaign with the words: "Herr Schweig does not belong to the German people". His reputation among the population was very high. When he died on September 1, 1923, 4,000 people are said to have attended the funeral.

Honors

• In 1992 a street in Weißwasser was named after Joseph Schweig.
• On September 27, 2006, Joseph Schweig became an honorary citizen of the city of Weißwasser.
• In October 2010, his grave was converted into an honorary grave.

literature

• Werner Schubert: Joseph Schweig. Jewish entrepreneur and democratic politician. Founder of the city of Weißwasser . Teetz 2008.
• Werner Schubert: Contributions to the history of the Jews in Weißwasser. A significant episode between 1881 and 1945 . 2014.
• Werner Schubert:  Silence, Joseph. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-428-11205-0 , p. 41 f. ( Digitized version ).