Ludwig Nissen

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Elisabeth Vilma Lwoff-Parlaghy , Ludwig Nissen , North Sea Museum Husum

Ludwig Nissen (born December 2, 1855 in Husum , † October 26, 1924 in Brooklyn , New York ) was a New York diamond dealer and patron. He became known as the founder of the Ludwig-Nissen-Haus in Husum, North Frisia.

Life

Childhood in Husum (1855–1872)

On December 2, 1855, Ludwig Nissen was born in Husum as the sixth of ten children of Reepschläger Hans Friedrich Nissen (1821-1887) and his wife Lucie Catherine Dawartz (1822-1898). He first attended elementary school and after his confirmation worked as a clerk at the district court in Husum Castle , where at the same time Theodor Storm , Husum's now world-famous poet, was working as a judge. Personal relationships between the two, however, are not recorded.

Emigration in 1872 and early years in New York

On August 28, 1872, 16-year-old Ludwig left his hometown with the permission of his parents and traveled on the steamer "Westphalia" from Hamburg to New York . Ludwig Nissen arrived in his new home on September 11, 1872. There are no personal testimonials that could provide information about the reasons for his emigration, the circumstances surrounding it or about dreams and goals. However, portrait photos from this period convey the image of a self-confident young man who, despite his small-town origins, was able to find his way around New York. His older brother Fritz (* 1847) was certainly helpful to him, at least initially. He had already arrived on the "Hamonia" in New York in August 1869. Of the ten children, four emigrated, three died at an early age. Only three stayed at home.

Ludwig Nissen's life in New York was initially changeable. He began as a boot cleaner, washed dishes, worked as a waiter and cashier, and later as a butcher and innkeeper. His business collapsed and his partners cheated on him several times.

Foundation of the company Schilling & Nissen (1881)

In May 1881 Nissen finally opened the jewelery shop “Schilling & Nissen” together with the diamond setter Fred Schilling from Hamburg. The company, while still burdened with debt, took off quickly. On December 27, 1882, he married Katharine Quick (1862–1930), who was born in New York. Her mother came from Switzerland , the father from Darmstadt . The couple remained childless. In 1908 they had the Norwegian immigrant Arne Dehli build a villa for them in Brooklyn , which they furnished with many valuable art objects and memorabilia. The representative, three-story building contained stables for horses, motor vehicle garages and a bowling alley on the ground floor.

Ludwig Nissen achieved fundamental successes in business during this time. Ludwig Nissen moved his business to the most elegant street in New York, Fifth Avenue . He became involved in the Association of New York Jewelers and became its treasurer in 1891, became vice president and finally its president in 1895. Other honorary positions brought him further prestige. In 1897 Ludwig Nissen was commissioner of the city of Brooklyn for the Atlanta exhibition, in 1901 for the Pan-American exhibition in Buffalo, in 1898 he was elected President of the Manufacturers Association of New York and in 1900 treasurer of the New York State Commission for the World Exhibition in Paris .

For more than 30 years he has shown an active interest in public and economic affairs. The American presidents Roosevelt , Taft and Coolidge sought a conversation with him. He had become a thoroughly American serving his new homeland. Nevertheless, he stood up for Germany, for example, against the allegations that the imperial government of Germany was to blame for the outbreak of the First World War .

The foundation of the Ludwig-Nissen-Haus in Husum

Nissen House

In 1915, Nissen stated in his first testament that he would create a comprehensive cultural heritage in his native city. In the same text he also expressed his self-image as a European immigrant: "My household is a historical document for my life and that of my contemporaries". He wanted to dedicate the cultural site to the memory of his parents. Around fifty years after his emigration, Ludwig Nissen visited Husum again for the first time in 1920. On this occasion he involved the district administrator of the Husum district, Heinrich Clasen , in his plans.

The planned house should have the character of a people's house , a museum and an art gallery. In addition, there should be additional rooms in which the population could meet for charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes. In 1921 the German-American publicly announced his plans in Husum's Schützenhof. The plans were recorded in his will of June 12, 1922 and became legally binding in the deed of foundation from February 29, 1928. Ludwig Nissen chose the form of an independent foundation for his legacy . It should guarantee independence from changing political and economic trends.

Ludwig Nissen died in Brooklyn on October 26, 1924. He established the city of Husum as the heir to his fortune of 2.5 million marks and stipulated in his will that his legacy should primarily serve the construction of the Ludwig Nissen House and the associated cultural purposes. Even before his death, Ludwig Nissen had donated a large number of valuable museum pieces for this Volkshaus, which were previously housed in the offices of Husum Palace .

Kathie Quick-Nissen († 1930)

On December 29, 1930, Ludwig Nissen's widow Kathie died of a stroke. From her estate she bequeathed an amount of 170,000 dollars to the city of Husum, so that the entire inheritance of the city from the Nissen couple from New York amounted to a good three million marks. This enabled the plans laid down in the will to be implemented in Husum.

The foundation stone of the Ludwig-Nissen-Haus, which was designed by Georg Rieve (1888–1966) until 1939, was laid on November 2nd, 1933. The donor's ashes are preserved under the dome of the rotunda .

Artists represented in the Ludwig Nissen Collection

literature

  • Klaus Lengsfeld: Ludwig Nissen Collection. Husum 1855-1924 New York. Documentation of Ludwig Nissen's art collection on the occasion of the exhibition on his 125th birthday in the Nissenhaus zu Husum in 1980, (= writings of the North Frisian Museum Ludwig-Nissen-Haus, No. 16).
  • Images from the New and Old World. The collection of the diamond dealer Ludwig Nissen. Contributions by Karin Heise, Klaus Lengfeld, Hermann Mildenberger and Cornelius Steckner. Cismar: Cismar and Husum Monastery: Nissen House, 1993.
  • Peter Nicolaisen: "Between the New and the Old World". Ludwig Nissen and German-American Relations at the Beginning of the Weimar Republic. In: North Frisian Yearbook. Volume 42, 2006/2007, pp. 73-90.
  • Paul-Heinz Pauseback: Emigration and integration using the example of the New York German-American Ludwig Nissen. North Frisian yearbook. Volume 46, 2011, pp. 87-104.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ geschichte-sh.de ( Memento of the original from September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.geschichte-sh.de
  2. ↑ Overview of the North Sea Museum , accessed on September 24, 2012.
  3. ↑ husumer-stadtgeschichte.de (PDF).
  4. ↑ wcaa.org.uk  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.wcaa.org.uk  
personal data
SURNAME Nissen, Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New York diamond dealer and patron
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH Husum
DATE OF DEATH October 26, 1924
Place of death Brooklyn , New York City