Philipp Freudenberg
Philipp Freudenberg (born October 20, 1833 in Bödefeld ; † February 1919 in Berlin ) was a German businessman and from 1889 until his death owner of the Gerson department store .
Life
He grew up in Bödefeld as the eldest son of Simon Freudenberg (1802–1874). His mother Rachel (Regine), née Vogelsang, came from Erwitte . There were 10 younger siblings. At first he worked in a haberdashery store in Aachen , where he met Levi Hirsch, who was 9 years his junior . Then he founded a fashion store together with Hirsch in Elberfeld .
In 1863 he married Johanna Löwenstein in Brussels , whose brother ran a lace fabric shop there. The couple had 5 children. While Levi Hirsch settled in Brussels and changed his name to Léo Hirsch, Freudenberg moved with his family to Berlin , where he got a managerial position in the then leading department store Gerson . In 1889 Freudenberg became a partner and in 1891 sole owner. With the commercial buildings Werderscher Markt 5-6 and Werderstrasse 9-12, the Gerson company owned two department store palaces, one for fashion, one for exclusive furniture from its own workshop, both within sight of the castle.
As soon as it was taken over, Freudenberg had the department store building at Werderschen Markt 5–6 demolished and replaced by an even larger and more splendid successor building based on plans by the architect Carl Bauer . The previous name Hermann Gerson was retained. Shortly after the turn of the century, the department stores made a shift from traditional solidarity to modernity. The business premises were modernized by Alfred Mohrbutter and Hermann Muthesius and the latest creations by Paul Poiret and other Parisian fashion designers were presented.
Succession
After Freudenberg's death, his children inherited the company. Hermann Freudenberg (1868-1924) and Julius Freudenberg (1870-1927), who were both married to daughters of Léo Hirsch, became managing directors. They expanded the house on Werderschen Markt in 1919 with an extension based on plans by the architect H. Derneburg. In the 1920s, the department stores employed up to 1200 people and also took part in the Berlin Fashion Week , which took place twice a year in the so-called textile district between Hausvogteiplatz and Werderschem Markt. Privately, Hermann had Muthesius build a country house for himself in Nikolassee , where he built up a significant art collection with paintings by Vincent van Gogh , Henri Matisse , Max Liebermann and Lyonel Feininger .
Until the expropriation by the Nazis, the company remained in family ownership of the Freudenbergs. Hermann's eldest daughter, Helene, who married a Hermann Mayer, fled to the Netherlands with her family in 1934. After the occupation of the Netherlands in 1940, the family was picked up and taken to concentration camps. Her two daughters Beppi and Magrit died in the Auschwitz concentration camp , she herself died in 1945 from the consequences of the abuse suffered in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp , her husband was missing.
On April 8, 2016 , stumbling blocks for the family were laid in front of their former home, Berlin-Nikolassee , Potsdamer Chaussee 48 .
Web links
literature
- Gesa Kessemeier: A fairy temple of fashion or a forgotten family, an obliterated place. The Freudenberg family and the "Herrmann Gerson" fashion house . Hentrich & Hentrich Verlag, Berlin 2013. ISBN 978-3-95565-018-6
- Gesa Kessemeier: Herrmann Gerson. The first Berlin fashion department store. Hentrich & Hentrich Verlag, Berlin 2016. ISBN 978-3-95565-151-0
- Jan Thomsen: When one's own family is expelled and murdered, Berliner Zeitung, Berlin April 8, 2016 [1]
Remarks
- ↑ ak-kurier.de Ika Freudenberg was born as the 5th child .
- ↑ Thomsen 2016
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Freudenberg, Philipp |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German couturier and merchant |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 20, 1833 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Boedefeld |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 1919 |
| Place of death | Berlin |