Rudolf Pringsheim

The Palais Pringsheim (bottom left) in Wilhelmstrasse as Berlin's showcase architecture in Meyer's Konversationslexikon (1885–1890)

Rudolf Pringsheim to Rodenberg (* 3. April 1821 in Oels , † 19th October 1906 in Berlin , and Rudolph Pringsheim ) was a German railway and mining - entrepreneurs in Upper Silesia .

Life

Rudolf Pringsheim came from the German-Jewish Pringsheim merchant family from Silesia . His father was a manufacturer and landowner . He married Paula Deutschmann (1827–1909), the daughter of a royal Prussian lottery holder. His son was the mathematician Alfred Pringsheim (1850–1941).

From 1860 he played a major role in the development of traffic in the Upper Silesian coal mining area . He first connected the pits in the difficult-to-access area with horse-drawn trams , and later switched to steam locomotives . The widely branched network of the Upper Silesian Narrow Gauge Railway comprised thirty-five pits, some of which he bought himself. When the Prussian state took over the route network, he was generously compensated. He invested part of the money in Ferrum , a joint stock company he founded , which made huge profits.

To distinguish him from his cousin Hugo Pringsheim , who was also active in the railroad business , Rudolf was jokingly called the "narrow gauge Pringsheim", while Hugo was called the "cocky Pringsheim".

In 1869 he acquired the plot of land at Wilhelmstrasse 67 in Berlin , now under the name Pringsheim zu Rodenberg , and built a palace on it from 1872–1874 , which was already included as a sight in a contemporary publication from 1876 and was considered to be such for decades. The so-called "colorful house", equipped with large-format murals by the painter Anton von Werner inside , was considered a prime example of historicism and was extensively honored in the publication Berlin and its buildings in 1877 . His triumphant design did not meet with unanimous approval, and Theodor Fontane railed in a letter to his wife in 1875 that the “Kakel architecture” would spoil Berlin. The Pringsheim heirs sold the house in 1910. The building, which was damaged in World War II , was demolished in 1950.

Rudolf Pringsheim was the grandfather of Katia Mann née Pringsheim, Thomas Mann's wife .

literature

• Laurenz Demps : Berlin-Wilhelmstrasse. A topography of Prussian-German power . 3rd updated edition. Ch. Links, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-86153-228-X .
• Young man, Rossbeck: Katia Mann . Propylaea, 2003, ISBN 3-549-07191-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Curiosities and sights . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1876, part 4, p. 194 (left column).