Maria Basels

Maria Basels (born October 12, 1886 in Kempen , † July 23, 1969 in Kempen) was a merchant and last member of the Basel family, who had lived in Kempen for almost 400 years. She bequeathed her fortune to two Kempen foundations .

Life

Maria Basels came from the "Ludwig Line", one of the two main lines of the Kempen family of Basels, which had been based in Neustraße since the middle of the 18th century. In 1868, her grandfather Jakob Heinrich Basels switched the company “Geschwister Basels, Posthalterei, Öl- und Flourhandel” to a soap-making company , which dealt with the production of soft soap , the green soap. In 1908, after the death of her father, her mother continued the soap making business. After the First World War , Maria Basels made a fresh start together with her brother Jakob Franz and her sister Frieda and founded a food wholesaler. In 1937 a coffee roastery was added. After the death of her siblings, Maria Basels finally handed over the business to her long-term managing director in 1959. With her death in 1969, a long tradition of the Basel family, which was closely associated with the city of Kempen, came to an end. She bequeathed all of her assets, including the head office at Neustraße 32, to her home town of Kempen.

effect

The assets of Maria Basels flowed into two foundations: one for needy older Kempen citizens, the “Maria Basels Altenheimstiftung” and one for the municipal Kramer Museum to preserve the valuable furniture, the “Maria Basels Foundation”. In the house on Neustraße 32, which she bequeathed to the city, is currently the regulatory and registry office of the Kempen city administration.

In 2009 a street in Kempen was named after her.

literature

• Jakob Hermes: The Kempen Basels. In: Heimatbuch des Kreis Kempen-Krefeld. 23rd Volume 1972, pp. 179-187.

Web links

• Website of the city of Kempen: Haus Basels
• Website of the city of Kempen: Maria-Basels-Straße