Viktor Kaifer

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Viktor Kaifer (painting, 1889)

Viktor Kaifer (born December 22, 1831 in Mayen , † October 6, 1913 in Godesberg ) was a German civil servant and politician . He was mayor of Andernach , Mülheim am Rhein and Mönchengladbach .

Life

Victor Kaifer studied law at the University of Bonn from 1851 to 1856 . He also devoted himself to local and regional studies, conducted studies on the history of his hometown Mayen and published essays and articles. Kaifer also wrote several humorous songs in the Mayener dialect , including the "Lied vom Mayener Jung".

Kaifer embarked on a career as a civil servant. He was a participant in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 and was awarded the Iron Cross for this. In 1871 he took over the office of mayor in Andernach. From December 1874 to September 1876 Kaifer was mayor of Mülheim am Rhein and from October 1876 to September 1900 mayor or lord mayor (from 1888) of Mönchengladbach, then still Gladbach or Munich-Gladbach .

Kaifer attached great importance to the modernization of Mönchengladbach's infrastructure, because the city's population grew from 33,000 to 58,000 during his term of office. During his tenure, the first waterworks , a gym, the slaughterhouse , the Kaiserbad and many schools were built. Since 1881, a horse-drawn tram has also connected the cities of Gladbach and Rheydt . Kaifer initiated the redesign of the Geroweiher, the layout of the Volksgarten and the Kaiserpark, today's Adenauerplatz.

The strong growth in the population led to the fact that the municipality of Munich-Gladbach left the association of the district of Gladbach on January 1, 1888 and formed its own urban district. Since that year Kaifer has held the title of Lord Mayor. In January 1900 Kaifer asked to be allowed to retire.

Even after his resignation, he remained connected to the city: In 1902, Victor Kaifer became the founding chairman of the museum association “To raise the citizens' understanding of the history of their closer homeland and to promote efforts aimed at enlarging and completing the city museum”. In 1904 the museum was able to move into its own building on Fliescherberg.

family

Kaifer was born the fifth of eight children, his parents were Johann Philipp Kaifer (1794–1851) and Katharina, née Molitor (1798–1866), his siblings Philipp (1824 -?), Fridolin (1825–1871), Eva Luise ( 1827–1831), Catharina (1829–1902), Gertruda (1834-?), Margaretha (1836–1895) and Johann Philipp (1836-?)

In 1876 Viktor Kaifer married Anna Maria Donker from the Netherlands ; he had four children with her: Anna Maria Catharina (1877–1907), Cornelius Walter (1880–1929), Viktor (* 1882) and his twin brother Otto Alexander (1882–1930).

literature

  • Fridolin Hört: Privy Councilor Viktor Kaifer - Lord Mayor of Mönchengladbach . In: Die Eifel (1963), p. 35.
  • Christoph Waldecker : Years of Change: 1876–1900. Viktor Kaifer from Mayen as Lord Mayor of Mönchengladbach . In: Mayener contributions to local history , No. 11 (2005), pp. 53–64.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Horch: The "Mayener Jung" . In: Mayen-Koblenz: Heimatbuch (2010), pp. 81–85.
  2. ^ Franz-Josef Verscharen, Clemens von Looz-Corswarem (arr.): Files of the city administration Mülheim am Rhein 1815-1914 . Volume 1 (= messages from the city archive of Cologne , 79). Böhlau, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-412-16998-6 , p. 19
  3. ^ Andreas Gruhn: Mönchengladbach: Kaifer - the modernizer .
  4. ↑ Rudolf Brandts (Ed.): M. Gladbach. From the history and culture of a Rhenish city. On behalf of the city administration for the 600th city anniversary . Mönchen-Gladbach, City Administration 1955, p. 190.
  5. ↑ Mönchengladbach Museum Association, 1902
  6. ^ History of the Kaifer family (privately owned)
personal data
SURNAME Kaifer, Viktor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German civil servant, Lord Mayor of Mülheim am Rhein and Mönchengladbach
DATE OF BIRTH December 22, 1831
PLACE OF BIRTH Mayen
DATE OF DEATH October 6, 1913
Place of death Godesberg