Ludwig Helps

Ludwig Helfft , also Levy Helfft (born on May 25, 1793 ; died on January 9, 1867 in Braunschweig ) was a German businessman and politician. He was the first Jewish city councilor in Braunschweig.

Life

Jacob Nathan Helfft († 1807), the son of the merchant and Brunswick-ducal patron Jew , continued his company together with his brother Gottschalk (1790–1872). At the time of the Napoleonic occupation, Helfft was one of the few Jewish students enrolled at the Collegium Carolinum in Braunschweig . In the 1830s he changed his original name from Levy to Ludwig. The family business NJ Helfft & Sons traded in English fabrics. There was a large fashion store on Bohlweg, and the oilcloth factory founded by the Helfft brothers in 1835 was on Wendentorbleiche. For reasons of age and lack of descendants, the company was sold to Julius Rothgießer, an employee.

Public offices

Helfft was chairman of the Braunschweig Jewish Community from 1829 to 1867. He was a member of the Braunschweig parliament . Helfft was one of the most highly taxed citizens of the city and could therefore be elected city councilor according to the Braunschweig election law of 1832. After he had been elector and candidate repeatedly since 1835, he was elected in 1845 as a member of the 24-member city council. The Braunschweig district directorate declared Helfft's election to be invalid, whereupon a commission was set up. The latter recognized that the eligibility of Jews would not contradict either the state constitution or the urban order. On November 12, 1845, the right to stand for Jews was confirmed. At that time, however, the Jews did not yet have the right to acquire property, to take over state offices and to be a notary. Helfft was a member of the city's social clubs and was on the board of the trade association.

family

Helfft married Jeanette J. Samson (* 1800) from Berlin in 1823. He died in 1867 and was buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery on Hamburger Strasse.

literature

Reinhard Bein : Eternal House - Jewish cemeteries in the city and country of Braunschweig. Braunschweig 2004, ISBN 3-925268-24-3 .
Hans-Heinrich Ebeling : The Jews in Braunschweig. Braunschweiger Werkstücke Volume 22, Braunschweig 1987, ISBN 3-87884-034-9 .
Norman-Mathias Pingel: Help, Ludwig / Levy. In: Manfred Garzmann , Wolf-Dieter Schuegraf (Hrsg.): Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon . Supplementary volume. Joh. Heinr. Meyer Verlag, Braunschweig 1996, ISBN 3-926701-30-7 , p. 65 .

Individual evidence

^ Walter Kertz, Peter Albrecht, Rudolf Elsner, Bettina Gundler : Technical University of Braunschweig: From the Collegium Carolinum to the Technical University 1745-1995. Georg Olms Verlag 1995, p. 104.

personal data
SURNAME	Help, Ludwig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Help me, Levy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German businessman and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	May 25, 1793
DATE OF DEATH	January 9, 1867
Place of death	Braunschweig

[1] Walter Kertz, Peter Albrecht, Rudolf Elsner, Bettina Gundler : Technical University of Braunschweig: From the Collegium Carolinum to the Technical University 1745-1995. Georg Olms Verlag 1995, p. 104.