Karl Lotz (Mayor)

Karl Lotz (born December 11, 1823 in Homburg ; † February 16, 1875 there ; born as Carl Christian Lotz ) was a German pharmacist , mayor , member of the Chamber of Deputies and spiritualist .

Life

Carl Christian Lotz was born in Homburg in 1823 as the son of the pharmacist Jakob Georg Lotz and his wife Franziska Friederike Juliane Henriette Schimper . After the death of his father in 1850, he took over his father's pharmacy. Both belonged to the liberal tendency in Bavaria and were involved in local politics. In 1863 he became adjunct of the city of Homburg. In 1867 he passed the family pharmacy into the hands of strangers in order to be able to devote himself entirely to politics. From 1868 until his death on February 16, 1875, he was mayor of Homburg, an office his father held from 1825 to 1848.

During his term of office the industrial change in Homburg took place. The city developed from a district office town to an industrial town. In addition, Homburg was the seat of the Prussian headquarters for a short time during the Franco-Prussian War . Lotz donated part of his property for the renovation of the Protestant town church in Homburg . He was unable to attend the opening due to illness. A memorial plaque opposite the side portal commemorates Karl Lotz's commitment to the city church.

From 1869 Lotz was a member of the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Imperial Councilors of Bavaria.

In addition to his political career, Lotz also devoted himself to spiritualism . In 1855 in the publishing house of the Tascher Buchhandlung (Kaiserslautern) he published the so-called table back or the communication with the deceased . In the 76-page book, Lotz reproduces five spiritualistic sessions supplemented by alleged drawings of the spirits who have been summoned.

Private life

Karl Lotz married Natalie Lotz in 1854, whom he met as a pharmacy apprentice in Landau . After his death, the widow married the brewer Ferdinand Jakobi. Carl Lotz is buried in the municipal cemetery in Homburg. The tomb also functions as a memorial. A memorial plaque for Lotz is on the Protestant deanery building, which was built in 1932.

Works

• The so-called moving the table or the intercourse with the deceased . Kaiserslautern: Verlag der Tascherschen Buchhandlung 1855.

literature

• Bernhard H. Bonkhoff: Karl Lotz (1823–1875), pharmacist, mayor and spiritualist . In: Saarpfalz. Sheets for history and folklore . Published by the Saarpfalz district. Homburg 2015/1 (No. 124). ISSN  0930-1011 pp. 51-58.