Wilhelm Bergenthal

Franz Anton Wilhelm Bergenthal (born February 4, 1805 in Warstein ; † April 28, 1893 in Warstein) was a founder of the mining industry in the Westphalian region.

Life

The copper industry in Warstein, which had existed for a long time, was acquired by Bergenthal, but was given up in the 1830s. The establishment of a company for the production of metal devices also failed and the company was sold. The later Siepmann works emerged from it.

Bergenthal started building the iron works in Warstein in 1834 together with his brother-in-law Ferdinand Gabriel. He was one of the first in Westphalia to set up a puddling plant in 1836 . Among other things, a rolling mill and a steel refining hammer were attached to this. The puddling factory of the trades Ferdinand Gabriel and Wilhelm Bergenthal produced cast iron goods, rod irons, axles and other things worth 353,303 thalers for 309 workers in 1855.

House copper hammer

With no real point of reference to the political events, violent clashes broke out in Warstein at the beginning of the revolution of 1848 over the division of community property. Bergenthal was the leader of a group of wealthy citizens who wanted to prevent a division in favor of a broader population group. In the same year Bergenthal acquired the representative house Kupferhammer .

Because of the poor traffic connections, the puddling mill and the rolling mill were relocated to Soest near the railway in the 1860s . Mainly the hammer mills and an axle factory remained in Warstein.

In addition to his own work, Bergenthal participated in numerous other ventures. In 1854 he was about to become the authorized representative of the trade and the iron and steel business of Christoph Gabriel from Eslohe . In the same year he participated in the founding of the Bochum association . He also sat on the board of directors of the stock corporation for mining, lead and zinc production in Stolberg and Westphalia since the 1850s . He was chairman of the supervisory board of Aplerbecker Hütte and a member of the supervisory board of the Vorwärts spinning mill in Bielefeld .

In 1863 Bergenthal took a share in the Funcke & Elbers company in Hagen . Two years later he co-founded the Wagner machine tool factory in Dortmund .

Bergenthal also played a key role in the construction of the blast furnace works in Lenhausen (near Finnentrop ), the Germania works in Grevenbrück and the Fischbacher works in the Altenkirchen district .

In addition to his direct entrepreneurial activity, Bergenthal was President of the Chamber of Commerce for the Arnsberg, Meschede and Brilon districts between 1878 and 1884. Politically, he became involved as a candidate for the Reichstag in 1878 as a joint candidate for liberals and conservatives, but was clearly defeated by Peter Reichensperger . In addition, in 1881 he played a key role in the establishment of the Warstein-Lippstädter Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft and was a member of the board of directors of this company.

In 1883 Bergenthal was given the title of a secret councilor for his services.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ludwig Herrmann Wilhelm Jacobi: The mining, metallurgy and trade in the administrative district of Arnsberg in statistical representation. Iserlohn, 1857. Unchanged reprint Kreuztal, 1988. S351
2. ↑ WStAMs Arnsberg 237
3. ↑ on this: Pfister, mechanical engineering in the Ruhr area
4. ↑ Centralvolksblatt 89/1878 of August 1, 1878

literature

• Winfried Reininghaus: trade and commerce in the Arnsberg, Meschede, Brilon, Soest and Lippstadt districts (1800–1914). In: Karl Peter Ellerbrock / Tanja Bessler Worbs (ed.): Economy and society in southeastern Westphalia. Dortmund, 2001. p. 161
• Theodor Thüsing: The economic development of the Arnsberg district with special consideration of the last 50 years. Diss. Münster, 1920.

Web links

• Estate in the Westphalian Economic Archives