Otto Georgi (politician)

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Otto Georgi 1912
Otto Georgi at his desk in Leipzig's Old Town Hall
Otto Georgi grave and relatives

Otto Robert Georgi (born November 22, 1831 in Mylau , † April 1, 1918 in Leipzig ) was a German lawyer and national liberal politician . He was the first mayor of the city of Leipzig.

family

Otto Robert Georgi came from a respected Evangelical Lutheran factory owner and banker family in Mylau. His father was the Saxon finance minister and banker Robert Georgi (1802-1869). His mother, Emilie Brückner (1801–1879), was the daughter of the manufacturer and banker Christian Gotthelf Brückner . His brother Arthur Georgi was President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Plauen and a long-time member of the Saxon state parliament.

He had been married to Anna Gruner (1841–1925), the daughter of the merchant Ferdinand Gruner (1810–1858) in Leipzig, since 1861. From this marriage there were six sons and two daughters, including the booksellers and owners of Paul Parey Verlag Arthur Georgi and Rudolf Georgi .

Life

After attending grammar school in Plauen, Georgi studied law at the University of Leipzig as well as in Göttingen and Heidelberg and obtained his doctorate in law in 1857 . In 1859 he settled in Leipzig as a lawyer and notary. In 1863 he took over the secretariat of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 1865 he was elected representative of the central board of the Gustav-Adolf-Verein .

His political career began in 1867 when he was elected city ​​councilor . In 1870 he took over the chairmanship of the city council until he was elected deputy mayor in 1874. At the same time he was from 1871 to 1877 a member of the Reichstag of the National Liberal Party (NLP) in his home constituency of Auerbach- Mylau- Reichenbach in the Vogtland . On October 28, 1876, he was appointed mayor of the city of Leipzig as the successor to the late Carl Wilhelm Otto Koch , who received the title of Lord Mayor for the first time on December 20, 1877 after Leipzig's rise to a major city. Georgi became the last mayor and first lord mayor of the city. He held this office until his retirement on September 30, 1899. In this capacity, he was also ex officio member of the First Chamber of the Saxon State Parliament from 1876 , where he worked as an expert on finance and railroad issues, and from 1895 to 1896 theirs Vice President.

During his tenure, Georgi made a decisive contribution to changing the cityscape of Leipzig. Under his leadership, numerous new buildings were built to the southwest of the old town - in the so-called music district - such as the new Gewandhaus in 1884 and the Leipzig Conservatory in 1887 , the Imperial Court in 1888 , the Royal Academy of Graphic Arts and the Book Industry and the Albertina University Library in 1891 . 17 suburbs were incorporated between 1889 and 1892, increasing the area of ​​Leipzig from 17.68 to 58.52 km². During Georgi's tenure, the population tripled from 127,000 (1875) to 456,000 (1900), and Leipzig became the fourth largest city in the German Empire after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. Georgi's achievements also include the change at the Leipziger Messe from a goods fair to a sample fair , which established Leipzig's rise to a world trading center and a wealthy citizen city up to the Second World War .

Georgi died in 1918 at the age of 86 and was buried in Leipzig's southern cemetery.

Honors

Plaque on the Leipzig town hall fountain

Due to his services, Georgi was made an honorary citizen of the city of Leipzig on the occasion of his retirement on September 30, 1899 . At the same time, part of the Leipzig inner city ring , the former Bahnhofstrasse, was renamed Georgiring in his honor. He was also an honorary citizen of Mylau and, since 1911, of Johanngeorgenstadt , where his ancestors came from a Bohemian exile family.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate in medicine and in 1902 the title of Royal Saxon Privy Councilor .

He was awarded the second class Red Eagle Order, the Second Class Prussian Crown Order, the Second Class Royal Saxon Order of Merit and the First Class Royal Saxon Order of Albrecht .

His portrait adorns the facade of the New Town Hall and the town hall fountain on Burgplatz in Leipzig.

Works

  • Draft of building regulations for the city of Leipzig with explanations , Leipzig 1883
  • Speeches and speeches by the Mayor of Leipzig, Dr. Otto Georgi from the years 1874 to 1899 , Leipzig 1899 ( digitized version )
  • The Saxon draft of a water law. A contribution to his assessment. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1907

literature

  • Hermann Christern (ed.): Biographisches Jahrbuch. Transition volume 2, Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart, Berlin 1925.
  • Herrmann AL Degener (Ed.): Who is it? Contemporaries lexicon containing biographies and bibliographies. Information about origin, family, curriculum vitae, works, favorite occupations, party affiliation, membership in societies, address. Other communications of general interest. 4th edition Degener, Leipzig 1909.
  • Herbert Helbig :  Georgi, Otto Robert. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-428-00187-7 , p. 243 ( digitized version ).
  • Hermann Kalkoff (Ed.): National Liberal Parliamentarians 1867–1917 of the Reichstag and the individual state parliaments. Contributions to party history on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the National Liberal Party of Germany. Publication distribution center of the National Liberal Party of Germany, Berlin 1917.
  • Karin Kühling; Doris Mundus: Leipzig's ruling mayor from the 13th century to the present. An overview with biographical sketches. Sax, Beucha 2000, pp. 62 f., ISBN 3-934544-02-9 .
  • Katrin Löffler; Iris Schöpa; Heidrun Sprinz: The Leipzig South Cemetery. History, gravesites, grave monuments. Edition Leipzig, Leipzig 2000, p. 124, ISBN 3-361-00526-4 .
  • Doris Mundus: The first Lord Mayor of Leipzig - Otto Georgi. In: Leipzig historical calendar 2006. Lehmstedt, Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-937146-22-9 .
Press release
  • Andreas Tappert: Ingenious politicians, resourceful inventors - business journalist Helge-Heinz Heinker caused a sensation with an in-depth lecture in the city archive on Leipzig's industrial history. He found out that one of the secrets of the success of the rapid rise of the old Leipzig was based on the close cooperation between the far-sighted Lord Mayor Otto Georgi and his building officer Hugo Licht . In: Leipziger Volkszeitung , half-page article, March 8, 2016, page 15

Web links

Commons : Otto Georgi  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Georgi, Otto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Georgi, Otto Robert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician and politician (NLP), MdR, Lord Mayor of Leipzig
DATE OF BIRTH November 22, 1831
PLACE OF BIRTH Mylau
DATE OF DEATH April 1, 1918
Place of death Leipzig