Richard Lenel
Richard Lenel (born July 29, 1869 in Mannheim ; † August 3, 1950 in Neckargemünd ) was President of the Chamber of Commerce , a Jewish emigrant during the Nazi era and an honorary citizen of the city of Mannheim .
Life
He was a son of Viktor Lenel . Richard Lenel attended high school in Mannheim and at the age of 23 joined his father's factory of waterproof underwear Lenel, Bensinger a. Co. in Mannheim and became its managing director in 1897. In 1908 he participated in the establishment of the general employers' association Mannheim-Ludwigshafen. From 1909 to 1920 he was a commercial judge. In 1911 he became head of the factory owners' association and was elected to the Chamber of Commerce, of which he was elected president in 1920. In 1922 he was elected to the citizens' committee for the German People's Party , where he was a member until 1930. On December 3, 1930, he was awarded the first honorary doctorate from the commercial college for his commitment to the promotion company of the commercial college. In 1931 he presided over an aid organization founded by the mayor to alleviate the plight of the unemployed. On March 27, 1933, under pressure from the new rulers, Richard Lenel had to resign as President of the Chamber of Commerce, even though he had resigned from the Jewish community in 1902 .
In the following years he and his two eldest sons who remained in Germany tried to maintain the family business until the rigorous measures of the Nazis in 1938 forced him to sell his house and company and move to England and later to the USA flee. His nephew Ludwig Lenel emerged as a composer. In exile he was extremely unhappy and therefore returned to Germany in 1949. On October 18, 1949, he was granted honorary citizenship of the city of Mannheim and one day later the title of Honorary President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In his hometown, Richard Lenel worked repeatedly as a patron. He bequeathed the painting "Head of an Old Jew" by the painter Adolph von Menzel to the Mannheim Kunsthalle . A few days after his 81st birthday, he died in Neckargemünd and was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Mannheim .
One street each in the "Ehrenbürgerviertel" in Mannheim-Feudenheim and one in Neckargemünd bear his name. A memorial plaque is attached to his former home on Maximilianstrasse in Mannheim's Oststadt .
literature
- Christiane Fritsche: Looted, repaid and compensated, Aryanization and reparation in Mannheim. Ubstadt-Weiher 2013, ISBN 978-3-89735-772-3
- Carl-Jochen Müller: Richard Lenel. In: The city's highest honor - portrait of 42 honorary citizens of Mannheim. (= Kleine Schriften des Stadtarchiv Mannheim 18), Mannheim 2002, p. 106f.
- Sebastian Parzer: “Mannheim should not only be reborn as a city of work…” - The second term of office of Mannheim's Lord Mayor Hermann Heimerich (1949-1955). (= Mannheimer historical writings 1), Ubstadt-Weiher 2008, p. 185, here also note 980.
- Hermann Schäfer: Lenel, Richard. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-428-00195-8 , pp. 203 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Karl Otto Watzinger : Richard Lenel 1869-1950. Mannheim 1972.
- Lenel, Richard. In: Karl Otto Watzinger: History of the Jews in Mannheim 1650-1945. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1984, pp. 119-121. ISBN 3-17-008696-0 .
- Susanne Batsch: Richard Lenel (1869–1950) - entrepreneur and President of the Chamber of Commerce . In: Wilhelm Kreuz, Volker von Offenberg (ed.): Jewish students of the United Grand Ducal Lyceum - Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasium Mannheim. Portraits from two decades, Mannheim 2014 (series of publications by the Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasium Mannheim in cooperation with the Mannheim City Archives - Institute for Urban History; 2), ISBN 978-3-95428-153-4 , pp. 131-138.
Web links
- Richard Lenel's biography (PDF; 171 kB)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lenel, Richard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German industrial pioneer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 29, 1869 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mannheim |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 3, 1950 |
| Place of death | Neckargemünd |