Peter von Lengerke (entrepreneur)

Johann Cornelius Peter von Lengerke (born August 18, 1788 in Hamburg , † January 8, 1848 in Wandsbek ) was a German entrepreneur and philanthropist .

ancestors

Peter von Lengerke was a son of Cornelius Conrad von Lengerke (1750-1822) and his wife Dorothea Cornelia, nee Dreyer († 1852). The family's ancestors came from Osnabrück and had lived in Hamburg for at least three generations. One of the ancestors was the Hamburg mayor of the same name, Peter von Lengerke .

Cornelius Conrad von Lengerke had a company in Hamburg, but couldn't find enough space there to dry and bleach cotton fabrics. Therefore, on October 1, 1780, he applied to the estate manager Heinrich Carl von Schimmelmann to be allowed to set up a "teat and cotton fabric and print shop" in Wandsbek. Von Schimmelmann approved the application. He also allowed von Lengerke to use two pieces of land on the mill pond there for 200 marks a year. In addition, he granted a loan of 30,000 marks for the establishment of the company for four percent interest.

The new company headquarters turned out to be ideal; the Wandse offered clean water and the surrounding area sufficient space. Von Lengerke had competition from three other calico factories, but quickly made enough money to be able to repay the loan. He also bought houses, two more bleaches, and two pieces of land. Up until the continental blockade in 1806, the five calico manufacturers in Wandsbek flourished. They sold their goods to numerous European countries via the Port of Hamburg .

After the French period in Hamburg , the business of the calico printing companies came to a standstill, particularly due to English competition. Cornelius Conrad von Lengerke's company survived the time as the only company of its kind. He rebuilt the company that was popularly called “the factory” until the end of his life. His son Peter von Lengerke inherited it after his father's death in 1822.

Act as an entrepreneur

Peter von Lengerke continued the company at least as successfully as his father. He established himself as one of the first local industrialists. He was able to increase sales and employed 400 to 500 people. In addition to bleachers, dyers, printers and draftsmen in the summer months, this also included numerous children who therefore only went to school in winter. In the spring of 1835, von Lengerke was the first entrepreneur in Wandsbek to buy a steam engine with 12 hp. He also used three printing machines, four washing wheels, a mangle and other machines.

Together with other well-known citizens, von Lengerke founded the “Ersparniss-Casse” in 1820, which developed into the “Sparbank von 1820”. He himself acted as their main cashier and accountant. The bank was located on the corner of Kurzen Reihe / Koenigstrasse (today Koenigstrasse / Wandsbeker Koenigstrasse). On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the reign of Friedrich VI. In 1833 von Lengerke financed the first hospital in Wandsbek, which was located on the property of today's Hamburg State Archives . The facility in Kattunbleiche 19 had 19 beds and was then expanded several times. In 1888 it moved into a new building in Rodigallee and in 1975 it became part of AK Wandsbek, which opened in 1975 .

On May 19, 1831, Friedrich VI. Peter von Lengerke as a knight of the Dannebrogden . On August 27, 1840 he received a visit from his successor Christian VIII. This is the reason why the path leading to the calico factory at that time was named "Königstrasse" (today "Wandsbeker Königstrasse").

Peter von Lengerke owned a two-story house with an extension and a greenhouse near the factory at Königstrasse 62, which had a high central building and two low side wings. The plans for this came from his brother-in-law Joseph Ramée . The architect then planned in 1834 a simple Biedermeier garden that took up the space between the house and the factory.

estate

Peter von Lengerke died childless in early 1848. The factory was taken over by Johann Peter Berger (1811–1877), who had married Lengerke's sister Dorothea Cornelia Wilhelmine (* 1789) for the first time. The government of Schleswig agreed on January 6, 1848 to change the name to "Berger von Lengercke". A “c” was deliberately inserted. The imposing factory building existed until a fire in 1856, after which it was not rebuilt.

Honors

Since 1936 the "Lengerckestrasse" and since 1936 the "Lengerckestieg" has been named Peter von Lengerkes.

literature

• Claus Gossler: Lengerke, Peter von . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 5 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8353-0640-0 , p. 230-231 .