Richard Jaehne

Richard Jaehne (born November 6, 1858 in Potsdam , † October 29, 1905 in Jena) was a Prussian local politician, Lord Mayor of Potsdam and a member of the Prussian mansion .

Life

Jaehne, the son of a master tailor, attended Viktoria-Gymnasium , where he graduated from high school in 1897. He then studied law in Tübingen , Leipzig , Heidelberg and Berlin . After graduation, Jaehne began an administrative career in Potsdam and Berlin in May 1880. It led him to his election to the paid city council in Potsdam in March 1889.

On February 23, 1894, the city council elected Jaehne as the city's second mayor, where he was responsible, among other things, for the city's construction activities and tax matters. When the Lord Mayor Reinhold Boie retired in 1897, the city councilors selected Jaehne from among four applicants, who, at the age of 39, came from the petty bourgeoisie and became Lord Mayor of the royal seat of the Prussian kings. Despite the unusual election, the king confirmed Wilhelm Jaehne and appointed him to the manor house as a representative of his city. Jaehne took office on July 2, 1897, first as First Mayor, then as Lord Mayor the following year.

During Jaehne's tenure, the opening of the public library in 1899, the Reich War School (1902), the construction of new residential areas in the Berlin and Nauen suburbs gave Potsdam a new look and in March 1900 the new post office building. The city administration was able to provide infrastructural impetus through the construction and commissioning of the city power station (September 1902) and through the purchase of the horse-drawn railway (1904).

Since the turn of the century Jaehne fell ill quite often, a slight stroke did not allow him to intervene again in official business until 1904. Despite poor health, he still managed to advance the city's services. From July 1904, the city took over paving of the streets. With the elevation of the railway embankment on the line from Potsdam to Wildpark , which began in 1905, he further improved the traffic system. When his health deteriorated, Jaehne had to take a long vacation in July 1905. Richard Jaehne died on October 29, 1905 at the age of only 47 in Jena.

literature

• Kristina Hübener: Urban development and administrative policy - Potsdam's Lord Mayor as the designer of a municipal service administration between 1850 and 1918/24 ; KWI Schriften 5 - The Potsdam City Council through the ages, pp. 75–96; Potsdam 2010 online (pdf; 187 kB)