Theodor Althoff

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Market square in Dülmen around 1900, left "Theodor Althoff"

Theodor Althoff (* 9. October 1858 in Dülmen , † 26. August 1931 in Münster ) was a German merchant , textile retailers and department stores - entrepreneurs .

Live and act

In 1885 Theodor Althoff took over a family-owned short, wool and white goods store in the Westphalian town of Dülmen and then began building a network of branches.

In 1904, Althoff opened what was then the largest department store in Westphalia on Westenhellweg in Dortmund, with a sales area of ​​5,000 square meters and 500 employees. It was the first German department store to also offer groceries. It was expanded in 1912, the original building suffered severe damage in World War II and was demolished in 1962.

The first Althoff department store in Essen opened at the beginning of the 20th century on the corner of Limbecker Strasse and III. Hagen. In autumn 1912, the new department store Limbecker Strasse / Grabenstrasse (today Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse) opened with 53 specialist departments on 28,000 square meters of usable space, accessed by seven staircases and ten elevators.

In 1913 Althoff opened another department store in (Gelsenkirchen-) Buer . In 1914, an Althoff department store was built on Petersstraße in Leipzig , which was continued as the Centrum Warenhaus in the GDR .

In 1920 Theodor Althoff AG merged with Rudolph Karstadt AG , but most of the Althoff branches continued to operate under their old name.

Theodor Althoff was buried in the central cemetery in Münster, his grave has been preserved.

The company headquarters of today's Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH, which emerged from the former KarstadtQuelle AG, is located on Theodor-Althoff-Strasse in Essen- Schuir, which is named after him .

  • Althoff department store in Dortmund, Westenhellweg / Hansastraße, front part 1904 (destroyed), rear extension building 1912

  • Althoff department store in Dortmund, Hansaplatz, extension in 1912 (facade changed significantly after 1945)

  • First Althoff department store around 1905 in Essen, Limbecker Straße / III. Hagen

  • Second Althoff department store in Essen from 1912, before being demolished in 2008

  • Münster City Museum in the former Althoff department store

  • Althoff department store in Leipzig, 1914

literature

Web links

Commons : Althoff (Warenhaus)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gelsenkirchen stories ; accessed on September 16, 2016
  2. ↑ City History Museum Leipzig ; accessed on September 16, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Althoff, Theodor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German merchant, textile retailer and department store entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH October 9, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Dülmen
DATE OF DEATH August 26, 1931
Place of death Muenster