Ottmar von Behr

Ottmar Baron von Behr , only known as Ottmar Behr in the USA (* 1810 in the Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen ; † 1856 in Germany ) was a German farmer and sheep breeder, meteorologist and naturalist .

family

Behr was the son of the Prime Minister of the Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen under Duke August Christian Friedrich . His brother was the doctor and politician Alfred von Behr .

He was married to Luise Katzfass (* 1818, † 1881). The couple had 4 children, including a son of the same name, Ottmar jun.

Life

Behr studied 1836-1839 cameralistics in Berlin , where he and his brother connections to the Young Hegelians maintained. Behr was a friend of the geographer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt and the writer Bettina von Arnim , after whom the Latin Settlement " Bettina " in Llano County ( Texas ) was named.

Behr was a member of the so-called Holter Circle . The Holter Kreis was an oppositional political circle of friends that met repeatedly - especially in the years 1845 to 1847 - at a hunting lodge in Holte Castle near Bielefeld . The poet Hoffmann von Fallersleben was also associated with the Holter Circle.

The date of his arrival in Texas is unknown, but he was already living in Houston in 1846 , where he met Hermann Spieß , with whom he soon returned to Germany. But as early as 1847, Gustav Dresel , the agent of the “ Mainzer Adelsverein ”, reported that Behr was back from Germany with his family and was with him in Galveston . In the same year Behr's book Guter Rath for Emigrants in Leipzig was published .

In 1847 Nicolaus Zink was the first settler of what would later become the village of Sisterdale , the most famous "Latin Settlement" in Kendall County between San Antonio (Texas) and Fredericksburg . Behr soon came there as the second settler and is said to have even given this settlement its name. In the German “ newspaper ” of Galveston of June 7, 1848, Behr propagated the advantages of Texas, the opportunities for settlers and the friendliness of the Comanche living there .

In October 1853 he was one of four singers from Sisterdale who took part in the first song festival in New Braunfels ( Comal County ).

In his house on the Guadalupe River he had an extensive library, perhaps the first in Texas. He lived as a sheep farmer and crossed German with Mexican sheep. He also served as the justice of the peace in his county. He is also said to have operated the local post office.

During these years he received visits from Prince Paul Wilhelm von Württemberg (1797-1860), John Russell Bartlett and Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903), who enjoyed his collection of books and pictures in this secluded wilderness.

Behr had some possessions in Germany, which is why he returned there regularly. He died on one of these trips in 1856. However, his widow stayed with her 4 children in Texas, where offspring still lived at least into the 1970s.

Ottmar Behr's house with post office and library burned down at some point. His son Ottmar jun. In 1870, however, he built a new house on the same site, which is now a museum.

Fonts

• Good advice for emigrants to the United States of America, with particular reference to Texas. Excellent written for country folk and craftsmen based on personal experience , Verlag R. Friese, Leipzig 1847.

literature

• Werner Grossert: Edgar von Westphalen , Ottmar von Behr and Eduard Degener . In: Contributions to Marx-Engels research . Issue 19, Marx-Engels-Department in the Institute for Marxism-Leninism at the Central Committee of the SED, Berlin 1985.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Volume 7: Supplement A – K. Winter, Heidelberg 2013, ISBN 978-3-8253-6050-4 , p. 62.

Web links

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