Peter Harry Fuld

Photograph by the founder Peter Fuld, portrait of an oil painting by Bruno di Maio, Milan

Peter Harry Fuld (born February 12, 1921 in Frankfurt am Main ; † March 21, 1962 there ) was a German patron . He was known by after his last will and testament expressed will set up Peter Fuld Foundation .

Life

Peter Harry Fuld was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1921 as the youngest son of Ida Maria, a Christian, and Harry Fuld , a Jewish merchant. His father founded the German private telephone company H. Fuld & Co. in Frankfurt in 1899, the nucleus of Tenovis , today's communications company Avaya . He opened a new business area with the idea of ​​renting and maintaining telephone systems. The company was successful and already had more than 2000 employees at the outbreak of the First World War . When Harry Fuld died on January 26, 1932, he left a sizable fortune and shares in the family business.

Until 1939 Peter Fuld lived with his mother in Frankfurt. He was classified as a half-Jew by the National Socialists . Fearing discrimination and persecution, his mother made him attend school in St. Gallen (Switzerland) from 1937 to 1939 . He then enrolled in law at Cambridge University , England . Nothing came of the studies. Immediately after the start of the war , in September 1939, Peter Fuld was interned as a German citizen in the internment camp " Isle of Man ". Fetched from the tennis court, he said, “They didn't even allow me to pack a suitcase. I was put on a ship and had to endure the entire trip in my tennis pants. There wasn't a bed for anyone. As a result, I slept on a table during the whole trip. It was an experience I will never forget. ”In July 1940 he was transferred to Canada . In 1941, the Canadian government decided to allow Jewish refugees to attend state schools and universities. On November 17th, Peter Fuld was released from the detention center. He began a double degree at the University of Toronto : on the one hand, he wanted to acquire the title of "Bachelor of Arts" and on the other hand that of a "Bachelor of Law". Despite his regained freedom, Peter Fuld's life was overshadowed because he was avoided by his Jewish fellow refugees and, as a German, by his Canadian fellow students. The Second World War raged in Europe. The father's fortune in Germany seemed to have been lost through the aryanization of the company to the company "Telefonbau und Normalzeit Lehner & Co"; the connection to the mother was broken. Peter Fuld had become a Canadian citizen while studying. After completing his law degree with a Bachelor of Law with distinction in 1945, Peter Fuld returned to England. Because of his stakes in British companies, he had no financial worries. From there he resumed contact with Germany. With the help of the London lawyer and friend Philip H. Hartley, he enforced his inherited claims on the family business after lengthy and difficult negotiations. In 1951 he received his limited partner participation in Telefonbau and Normalzeit back. On March 25, 1957, he married Mrs. Marina von Bernus. The couple lived in London. The marriage remained childless and was divorced in 1961. The personal experiences during his studies in Canada and the observation of the fate of colored fellow students aroused in Peter Fuld a special sympathy for racial discrimination . Sensitized to human suffering, he helped many colored refugees in post-war England to enable them to obtain an educational qualification. As early as 1959, Peter Fuld suffered the first light epileptic seizures. His friend and doctor Dr. Tarnesby immediately suspected a brain tumor. In London he underwent an operation, where the surgeon Dr. Kisock had a glioma that was found to be malignant and inoperable.

Peter Fuld's health had improved after the operation in London. He then had to undergo another examination in Frankfurt at the Sankt-Marcus Hospital in October 1961 . There he recovered quickly. His condition was almost normal between December and January 1962, but then he suddenly collapsed. He died on March 21, 1962 in Frankfurt.

Testamentary disposition

Peter Fuld had made several wills. His will of July 11, 1961 was drawn up with his impending divorce in mind. Later conversations with his family, friends, and business advisor Dr. Hartley led to an addendum in October. After Peter Fuld's death there were disputes as to which dispositions were binding according to the above. Before the British Court of Justice in London, after three months of lengthy negotiations with many witnesses, in 1965 the legally binding nature of the first written orders of July 11th and the addendum of October 16, 1961 were recognized. In his final will, Peter Fuld had decreed according to section 10, letter (j): "I instruct my trustees that the remaining 12% should be transferred to Philip Harry Hartley for the special purpose specified in section 17." Clause 17 stated: “As for the income and capital to which Philipp Harry Hartley is entitled on the basis of Clause 10 (j), I would like him to use these amounts for the benefit of children or young people - but without setting up a trust People of mixed-color-racial origin in Germany and for the benefit of other cases in which young people are exposed to racial discrimination. ”Hartley decided to set up an independent, non-profit foundation in Frankfurt for the purposes determined by Peter Fuld . The foundation business was notarized on May 21, 1969. On August 6, 1969, approval was given by the Hessian Minister of the Interior and, from 1972, recognition as a non-profit body by the Frankfurt / Main-Börse tax office. Hartley, executor of the will and first chairman of the Peter Fuld Foundation, not only looked after the sponsored young people in the greater London area until his death in 1980, but also provided the founder with an honorable souvenir with the property in Frankfurt am Main, Kennedyallee 55, acquired by the foundation in 1979 , the "Peter Fuld House".

literature

• Memorandum of PETER FULD on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his death written by the Peter Fuld Foundation, 1987
• Peter Fuld Foundation, Foundation Flyer 2020

Individual evidence

1. ^ Peter Fuld Foundation