Max Hebecker
Max Gustav Hebecker (born June 2, 1882 in Eisleben , † June 13, 1948 in Fischerdorf ) was a German mining engineer. He gained fame above all through the free-market Schwundgeld experiment he initiated in Hengersberg - Schwanenkirchen .
Life
Max Hebecker was born as the son of the Eisleben citizen Ferdinand Hebecker and his wife Anna, nee. Schaaf, born. He graduated as a mining engineer . Through the Wandervogel , Hebecker learned about Silvio Gesell's money and land reform ideas and finally joined the free-economic Physiocratic League .
In 1925 he found a job at the Schwanenkirchen lignite mine , which was originally owned by the city of Deggendorf , but was then acquired by Niederbayrische Braunkohle AG . In 1927 the mine had to file for bankruptcy. With Hebecker, many locals lost their jobs. In a foreclosure auction in the winter of 1929, Hebecker acquired the mine for 8,000 Reichsmarks , using all of his assets. The hope that the local banks would grant him loans to rebuild the business failed.
The WÄRA miracle of Schwanenkirchen
Hebecker turned to the WÄRA exchange company, founded in Erfurt in 1929 and organized under private law , which immediately provided him with a loan of 50,000 Reichsmarks for the necessary investments via a financing consortium. Most of the loan was in WÄRA.
In the period that followed, the region around Schwanenkirchen experienced an economic upswing that attracted much public attention. Hebecker employed 60 miners, two thirds of whom were paid with WÄRA vouchers and one third with Reichsmarks. Business people and companies joined the WÄRA exchange company after initial hesitation. The economic upswing was stopped by an ordinance of the Reich Ministry of Finance in October 1931, although the judicial investigation of the WÄRA experiment carried out earlier had resulted in a positive decision for Hebecker. The Reich Ministry of Finance invoked the Brüning emergency ordinances and prohibited the WÄRA experiment in Schwanenkirchen as well as in numerous other places in the German Reich . The WÄRA headquarters in Erfurt also fell victim to this regulation.
Further developments
Hebecker had to make most of his workers unemployed. With a few employees he tried to keep the mine running for a while, but soon failed. After the war , Hebecker was not aware of any further activities.
literature
- Werner Onken : Model experiments with socially responsible soil and money. Lütjenburg 1997, ISBN 3-87998-440-9 , online
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hebecker, Max |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hebecker, Max Gustav (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German mining engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 2, 1882 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Eisleben |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 13, 1948 |
| Place of death | Fishing village , today: district of Deggendorf |