Moritz Lenel

Moritz Lenel (born March 20, 1811 in Ladenburg , † February 2, 1876 in Mannheim ) was a German entrepreneur and politician.

Life

Moritz Lenel was the son of the merchant Herz Löwenthal and his wife Sara, nee. Simon. The family changed their name to Lenel around 1820. Together with his brother Simon, Moritz Lenel settled in Mannheim in 1833, where they both ran a spice mill and a saffron and vanilla trade in O 3. In 1836 he married Caroline Scheuer (1814–1857). The couple had three sons and four daughters, among them the entrepreneur and politician Viktor Lenel (1838-1917) and the legal historian Otto Lenel (1849-1935). In 1848 Moritz Lenel supported the demands for freedom and unity in Germany. In the same year he was admitted to the Chamber of Commerce. In 1852 Lenel was elected to the large citizens' committee in Mannheim. In 1861 he was one of the initiators of the German Trade Conference. Lenel co-founded several important Mannheim companies and banks. In 1866 he was elected Vice President and in 1871 President of the Mannheim Chamber of Commerce.

Moritz Lenel was also active in Mannheim's Jewish community and had been a member of the Synagogue Council since 1855. He campaigned for the establishment of a girls' school, which opened in 1863, and co-founded a non-denominational association for nursing. In 1868 he was elected commercial judge.

literature

• Karl Otto Watzinger: History of the Jews in Mannheim 1650–1945 with 52 biographies , 2nd edition, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 1987 (publications of the Mannheim City Archives; 12) ISBN 3-17-009646-X , pp. 116–117.