Theodor Gayen

Theodor Alexander Gayen (born May 4, 1824 in Altona ; † August 18, 1900 in Altona-Bahrenfeld ) was a spirits manufacturer , shipowner and land speculator .

Live and act

Theodor Gayen was born as the second son of the merchant and shipowner Johann Peter Albert Gayen (born April 27, 1792 in Altona , † January 10, 1862 there) and his wife Cornelia. Theodor Gayen's mother was a daughter of Carl Friedrich Fick, who worked as a wine merchant in Hamburg . Theodor Gayen's grandfather, Jan Tecker Gayen (1757-1817), was a sea captain and owner of the company named after him, Jan Tecker Gayen .

At the shipping company in January Tecker Gayen Theodor Gayens two years kept older brother Fernando and his father share. Later, the father took over a distillery and thus oriented the company towards the production of brandy and vinegar .

Theodor Gayen, who attended the Christianeum and then completed a commercial apprenticeship , became a partner in his grandfather's company around 1855. After his father's death on January 10, 1862, Theodor Gayen's brother Fernando, two years older than him, withdrew from the company. Theodor Gayen therefore owned the Jan Tecker Gayen company alone from around 1865 . He decided to give more importance to the operation of sailing ships again. In the 1860s, sailing (see Freight Sailing and Shipping ) benefited in particular from trips to East Asia .

Around 1870 Gayens owned shipping company of the leading suppliers in Altona and operational with the full-rigged ship Francis K. Dumas the largest ship based in Altona. The ships often transported the company's own spirits , which were produced on Grosse Elbstrasse . The demand for liquor was in port cities and plantations in overseas increased. The company abbreviation "JTG" was often used by seafarers as a mocking abbreviation for "content of deadly poison".

In 1889 the Reichstag considered restricting the increasing export of German alcohol overseas. Theodor Gayen was not impressed by this. Around 1892 his company exported approximately three million liters of wine and brandy annually . Theodor Gayen thereby acquired a great fortune.

From 1855, Theodor Gayen took on various offices and communal functions . From 1855 to 1865 he was Austrian consular agent, from 1858 to 1879 consul of Buenos Aires and from 1858 to 1878 consul of Argentina . In the southern part of Altona he was in charge of the city's poor affairs from 1856 to 1861. From 1858 to 1860 he was in charge of the “care institution for the weak old and the terminally ill”. From 1858 to 1861 he was the managing director of the “Support Institute and Sparkasse ” in Altona. The citizens of the city elected him with a large majority to the 16-member college of deputies to which he belonged from 1863 to 1868. From 1866 to 1898 Theodor Gayen was involved in the Commerz-Collegium zu Altona. In 1879, in this interest group for merchants and manufacturers, he suggested connecting Altona to the German customs area and expanding the Altona port .

In 1861 and 1867, Theodor Gayen acquired large land holdings in Bahrenfeld . Here he built a summer country home for the family. Later he bought more properties so that he finally owned more than half of the Bahrenfeld district. Like other merchants in the greater Hamburg area, Gayen acquired land near the city and speculated on later increases in value. Gayen developed the land by relocating several streets in Bahrenfeld. He had several houses built for members of the family. When the North German Racing and Trotting Club was looking for a site for a trotting track, Gayen leased 23  hectares of land. This is where the Bahrenfeld trotting track was built , which opened in June 1880. In the 1880s, Gayen had an area in Bahrenfeld afforested, which became known as "Gayens Tannen". The Luther Park developed from an area of ​​the forest .

Theodor Gayen organized many festivals that business people and theater artists liked to attend. He was considered a hard-drinking connoisseur who had a rough sense of humor. The shipowner mostly spoke Low German and was on good terms with his fellow men. Gayen was considered charitable, did not act luxuriously, and was an avid hunter .

Gayens Weg has been named after Theodor Gayen since 1939 and Theodorstrasse before 1890 . Julienstraße has been a reminder of his wife since 1898 .

family

Theodor Gayen married Julie von Lenz (1832–1886) in 1853. Her father, Johann Reinhold Lenz had, from 1808 to 1844 in Hamburg as an actor , playwright and director worked. Theodor Gayen and his wife had three sons and three daughters, one of whom died young. The family lived on Klopstockstrasse in Ottensen .

literature

• Hildegard von Marchthaler , 1955: The Gayen and their company Jan Tecker Gayen, shipping company in Altona since 1790 , published by the Gayen Family Association, 100 pages. With a portrait as the frontispiece , several full-page illustrations in the text and a folded family tree. Möller / Tecke III, 2193. - The ship's captain Jan Tecker Gayen. The brothers Gottlieb Diedrich and Jan Peter Albert Gayen. The Spanish Gayens. Theodor Gayen. Jan Peter Gayen's younger children. The fates of the fourth and fifth generations. With plaque of honor for those who fell in the world wars, list of ships, list of descendants and register of names.

• Hans Walden: Gayen, Theodor . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 3 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-8353-0081-4 , p. 131-132 .

Web links

• Biographies from A to Z: "Gayens Weg" (pdf, 2 pages), in: Hamburg.de, text by Frauke Steinhäuser