Philipp Merian

Philipp Merian, bearer of the star of the Grand Ducal Baden Order of the Lions.

Philipp Merian (baptized on May 6, 1773 in Basel , † July 26, 1848 in Basel) was a Basel trader, philanthropist and founder of the foundation. He is an honorary citizen of Freiburg im Breisgau .

Life

Philipp Merian came from one of the most distinguished families in Basel, the Merians . His father Samuel Merian (1739-1825) was a merchant and banker as well as the owner of a wire processing factory in Basel and an ironworks in Hausen im Wiesental . Philipp Merian began training in trade in Amsterdam at the age of twelve, but had to break it off due to an illness. He studied at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg and at the Bergschule für Bergbau und Metallurgie in Freiberg . After completing his training, he first worked as a trader in Paris (during the Jacobin " reign of terror ") and in the Netherlands , after which he was the owner of the ironworks in Wehr (Baden) .

Merian, who had been the supervisor of the Rebleuten guild since 1804 , lived as a reindeer in Freiburg im Breisgau from 1818 , from where, like his Basel nephew Christoph Merian, he undertook extensive philanthropic work with numerous foundations and legacies for the benefit of the poor, orphans, widows, Children, servants and schools in the cities of Freiburg and Basel and in the Grand Duchy of Baden began. In 1824 he became an honorary citizen, in 1825 an honorary councilor and honorary member of all foundation committees of the city of Freiburg. In that year, the Grand Duke also made him a knight (later commander) and holder of the star of the Grand Ducal Baden Order of the Lions. As a result of the revolution in Baden in 1848, Merian traveled to Basel in July, where he died of a stroke. He was buried in the cloister of the Basel Minster . The city of Freiburg named Merianstrasse after him, where the Merian School is also located. He had the Merian-Sautiersche House at Leopoldsring 1 built for himself in 1826 (burned out in 1944, rebuilt in 1950).

literature

• General Foundation Commission of the City of Freiburg: Collection of all documents about the foundations made by the deceased honorary citizen and honorary councilor of the capital Freiburg, Philipp Merian von Basel, together with a biography , Freiburg 1849.
• Ernst Miescher: Philipp Merian, a little-known benefactor , in: Sunday newspaper of the Basler Nachrichten , February 7, 1943.
• JP Zwicky von Gauen: Swiss Gender Book , Volume 10, Zurich 1955, p. 225.