Noah Wolff

Noah Wolff (1896)

Noah Wolff (also Noa Wolff , born August 18, 1809 in Berleburg , † October 4, 1907 in Neheim ) was an industrial pioneer in the city of Neheim and an important representative of Judaism in the Sauerland .

Industrial pioneer

Noa Wolff is one of the co-founders of the industry in Neheim. He was originally a court clerk in Iserlohn and got to know the metal goods industry there. In Neheim, he was able to use the labor that was idle after the decline of the textile industry as a location factor. In 1831 he wrote to the Baron von Fürstenberg about the situation in Neheim: “A large part of the poor poor, cut off from all sources of income, is still there.” However, the transition to industry initially proved difficult. Wolff complained about the problems of introducing new methods in "a place where the factory spirit itself has to be awakened first."

As early as 1833 he founded his "pin and armored goods factory" together with his local partner Salomon Elias. This manufactured needles and other metal products. He thus transferred commercial traditions from the neighboring Sauerland in the Brandenburg region to Neheim. The company was soon expanded in 1835 and a new wire drawing and nail factory was built. At that time the company employed 48 workers. Wolff also supplied raw materials and tools to domestic and home workers. For the workers in his company he founded a workers', health and benefit fund.

Since the 1840s, Wolff & Elias operated a “printing shop for shaped sheet metal, brass and bronze things.” After his business partner Elias left the company, Wolff's brother Hermann joined the factory. Since then it has operated under the name of "Gebrüder Wolff." It produced kerosene lights and later also electrical appliances. The company remained independent until 1924 before it was owned by the Honsel Leuchten company.

Jewish community

Wolff's contribution to the development of the Jewish community was just as significant . As a Jew , despite his economic success, he was denied the right to vote in the city council for a long time, which only changed in 1847 with the legal equality of Jews in Prussia through the Prussian Jewish law . In the middle of the 19th century he was head of the Jewish community and in 1857 he became head of the Arnsberg synagogue district . Thanks in particular to Noah Wolff the construction of the synagogue in Neheim from 1876 but also the establishment of a Jewish school.

Gravestone of Noah Wolff after the restoration

He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Neheim. His gravestone was washed away after the Möhne disaster of 1943 and accidentally rediscovered in October 2012.

Honors

In recognition of his achievements in building up the industry in Neheim, Wolff was awarded the Red Eagle Order IV class on the company's 60th anniversary . The city of Neheim made him an honorary citizen in 1896. After the renovation of the old Neheim synagogue, the hall was named by Noah Wolff. A street in Arnsberg is named after Wolff.

literature

• Waltraud Loos: Jews in the Hochsauerlandkreis in the Age of Enlightenment and Emancipation . In: Rudolf Brüschke, Norbert Föckeler: Jewish life in the Hochsauerland . Fredeburg, 1994, ISBN 3-930271-18-4 , p. 44
• The focus: the light. BJB 125 years of involvement in Neheim's industrial history . Arnsberg, undated, p. 16
• Wilfried Reininghaus: Preliminary considerations on an economic and social history of southeastern Westphalia in modern times . In: Katrin Liebelt: The social structure of the royal seat of Arnsberg in the 17th century (= studies on economic, social and technological history, 14). Society for Westphalian Economic History eV, Dortmund, 1996, ISBN 978-3-925227-38-7 , p. XXV

Web links

• July 1833: Noa Wolff founds a factory for pins and needles. Armored goods. neheims-netz.de, archived from the original on July 4, 2015 ; accessed on October 6, 2017 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lost gravestone of honorary citizen Noah Wolff discovered. Sensational unexpected find. Press release City of Arnsberg from October 26, 2012.
   Martin Schwarz: Lost tombstone of honorary citizen Noah Wolff discovered on the banks of the Ruhr . DerWesten , October 26, 2012, accessed October 6, 2017.