Peter Mülhens

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Peter Paul Mülhens (born August 6, 1875 in Ehrenfeld , † August 5, 1945 in Heumar ) was a Cologne entrepreneur and manufacturer .

Life

origin

Peter Mülhens was the son of the Cologne water manufacturer and politician Ferdinand Mülhens and Maria Ottilie, nee. Riedl. In addition to the 4711 company in Königswinter, his father left him the Wintermühlenhof estate and the Petersberg property, including the hotel .

Career

After initial training in his father's company, as well as with one of the suppliers of scented plants and essences in Grasse , Peter Mülhens set off on his own travels with an experienced traveling salesman. A longer stay in Grasse was followed by an apprenticeship in New York . In 1900 his father took him on as a partner and gave him independent management of the business. From his stay in North America , in addition to two steam-powered automobiles, he also had a penchant for modern office technology and ideas for optimizing production processes. By eliminating wholesaling , he introduced delivery to end consumers directly from the factory. Under him the Tosca brand was introduced in 1921 and “Sir” in 1935. During the occupation after the First World War , he outsourced part of the production to Berlin , but after a few years he was able to stop prewar production.

Peter Mülhens joined the NSDAP in 1937 , but first and foremost to reduce the pressure on the company and its personnel and sales policy. The family was aloof from National Socialism as such. Jews employed in the foreign operations of the house were not dismissed, contrary to instructions, and Maria Mülhens maintained contact with her Jewish sister-in-law.

family

The Catholic Peter Mülhens married on August 27, 1909 in Deutsch-Wilmersdorf Maria Walburga Stockhausen (born March 3, 1881 in Krefeld, † December 8, 1959 in Heumar), a daughter of the merchant Julius Emil Stockhausen and Agathe, née. Bermbach. Maria Mülhens was married to the Cologne factory owner Ferdinand van der Zypen (1875–1914; van der Zypen & Charlier ). The daughters Maria (1912–1985) and Luise (* 1914) and the sons Ferdinand (II) (1911–1938) and Hans (1916–1945) emerged from the marriage of Mülhens / Stockhausen. After the death of her husband, Maria Mülhens continued to run the company 4711 until her grandson, Ferdinand (III) (* 1937) took over management of the company in 1962.

Röttgen stud

On October 1, 1909, Peter Mülhens took over the manor of Röttgen Castle near Heumar from the property of the Geyr von Schweppenburg family . The property itself remained the property of the barons until 1918, before it was completely transferred to him through purchase. However, as early as 1910, he began to enlarge the previously leased property through land purchases. From 1920, Mülhens commissioned the Cologne architect Ludwig Paffendorf to carry out expansion work. In 1924 he finally founded the Röttgen stud , and extensive construction work began in 1927 to design it, also based on designs by Paffendorf. The stud was successful in racing soon after it was founded. In 1933, Peter Mülhens donated the "Price of 4711", which was awarded at the Cologne racecourse . After the Second World War , his daughter Maria Mehl-Mülhens continued the Röttgen Stud together with her husband, the Peruvian Consul General Rudi Mehl (1902–1980).

Public offices

With the relocation of his residence to Röttgen, the Mayor of Heumar, Rudolf Lütz, recommended Peter Mülhens to the local council as fourth alderman . After being appointed by the Upper President of the Rhine Province in February 1910, he held this unpaid office until 1919. From April 1, 1913 to March 31, 1919, he was a member of the district council of the Mülheim am Rhein district . As one of the majority owners of the mayor's office, he was also born on September 29, 1911, a member of the municipal council in accordance with Section 46 of the Rural Community Code for the Rhine Province. Apparently due to the changed political situation after the First World War, the relationship with the municipality of Heumar cooled down after 1918. After August 7, 1919, he did not attend any more meetings and did not run for the November 16, 1919 election. Relationships only revived from around the mid-1930s. After the mayor's offices of Heumar and Wahn had been merged to Porz in the meantime , Mülhens was introduced to the Porz municipal council on June 23, 1938. But he last attended a meeting there on October 20, 1938. After December 1, 1943, he was no longer listed among the absent council members.

Foundations

Shortly after taking possession of Röttgen, Mülhens emerged with the first foundations within the municipality and mayor's office of Heumar. In 1910 he donated an annual honorary salary of 600 gold marks in favor of the war veterans from the community, with whom he also traveled (1912 to the battlefields of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 ). After his election to the board of trustees of the high school founded in 1908 (later grammar school in Humboldtstrasse) on April 13, 1911, he gave it 6,000 gold marks. The income from the interest should enable working-class children to attend school. In addition to the support of the male choir “Singer Grove Heumar-Rath” and the Protestant parish, Mülhens also donated the first ambulance in 1913 . After the revolution in November 1918, however, he took back a portrait of Kaiser Wilhelm II , which he donated for the community meeting room. In 1923 it was reclaimed because of the value of the frame - whether it came to this is not known. Since October 3, 1910, Peter Mülhens was a member of the church council of the Catholic parish of St. Cornelius, to which he donated several foundations during the 1920s.

literature

  • Karl Michael Armer, Ute Kaltwasser, Karin Thomas: Muelhens: Cologne-Paris-New York; the culture of beauty. Two hundred years 4711. DuMont, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-7701-3121-5 .
  • Johann Bendel : Homeland book of the district of Mülheim am Rhein. History and description. Sagas and stories. 2nd and 3rd ed., Self-published, Cologne-Mülheim 1925, p. 253.
  • Jürgen Huck : Röttgen and the Mülhens family. In: Cologne on the right bank of the Rhine. Yearbook for history and regional studies. Volume 2, Cologne 1976, pp. 159-171.
  • Ulrich S. Soénius :  Mülhens, Peter Paul. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 18, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-428-00199-0 , p. 302 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Markus Eckstein: Eau de Cologne. In the footsteps of the famous fragrance . Bachem, Cologne 2006, ISBN 978-3-7616-2676-4 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen, civil status archive Rhineland, civil status register, registry office Porz, deaths, 1945, document no.380
  2. ↑ a b c d Ulrich S. Soénius: NDB
  3. ^ Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen, civil status archive Rhineland, civil status register, registry office Porz, deaths, 1959, document no. 267
  4. ↑ Gabriele Oepen-Domschky: Family Mülhens. In: Internet portal Rheinische Geschichte. Retrieved July 21, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Jürgen Huck: Röttgen and the Mülhens family.
  6. ^ Johann Bendel: Heimatbuch des Landkreis Mülheim am Rhein.
  7. ↑ Ludwig Wester: 100 years of the male singing association, singer grove Heumar-Rath. Self-published, Porz a. Rh. 1966, p. 13.
personal data
SURNAME Mülhens, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mülhens, Peter Paul (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Ehrenfeld
DATE OF DEATH August 5, 1945
Place of death Heumar