Wilhelm Wachendorf

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Wilhelm Wachendorf (born August 14, 1877 in Hamburg ; † June 28, 1949 there ) was a German businessman .

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Wilhelm Wachendorf was born the son of a cigar turner in Hamburg's Gängeviertel near the Dovenfleet. His mother worked as a cleaning lady. At the age of 14 he began training in Rudolph Otto Meyer's company ROM . When Wachendorf started his apprenticeship at ROM , the headquarters of the company founded in 1858 was in Eilbek . The villas of the two principals, next to “Vadder Meyer” the younger partner Joseph Strebel, were next to the factory buildings. The company had around 100 employees, most of whom worked in the commercial sector. In the commercial area worked 1892 Proxy, a cashier, a clerk and next Wachendorf another apprentice. In February 1894, the company acquired its first typewriter that was operated by "a woman". At the end of his four-year apprenticeship, Wachendorf was promoted to "handler". The employees worked twelve hours or more every day with a two-hour lunch break. They did not receive regular pay for overtime, but sometimes special payments from Meyer.

In 1905, Wachendorf married a 23-year-old who had worked as a domestic servant since the confirmation and then completed an apprenticeship as a cleaner. His wife had two younger sisters who attended the elementary school teacher seminar and received financial support from their sister. Since the couple had saved money, they could go on a short honeymoon in the Harz Mountains . They were also able to fully equip a three-room apartment on Eilbeker Menckesallee . The Wachendorf couple had two children, born in 1907 and 1908. Wilhelm Wachendorf earned 120 marks a month. He needed 100 marks for living expenses and rent. He sent his old mother ten marks and put the remaining ten aside at the savings bank.

In the next few years, Rudolph Otto Meyer's company grew significantly. Wilhelm Wachendorf was promoted to “main cashier” in 1916 and worked in this position until 1939. The family now lived in a three and a half room apartment with a terrace in Eilbek. The family enjoyed good, if not large, meals and meat only on Sundays. Knowing negative examples, the couple never drank alcohol. Ms. Wachendorf attached importance to "hard-wearing" clothing and often sewed herself. The parents raised their children to be frugal; on excursions they only occasionally paid them a shower and never went to local places. The family regularly visited Hamburg's book halls , operas and theaters. They celebrated birthdays and other events in larger company.

The ROM company was dominant for the thinking of the entire family, as it was their livelihood, so the son of Wilhelm Wachendorf later. Wachendorf always felt personally connected to the company, even after dealing with it had become more impersonal due to the company's size. Wachendorf also worked for the company when he was retired. The reason for this solidarity was the fear that the company could do worse and the family would suffer from hunger and hardship, as the parents themselves had experienced as children. The son of Wachendorf later recorded that his father had done a labor service which, in return, secured the livelihood of the Wachendorf family. A vacation that lasted longer than two weeks was never possible, the father was always "nailed".

The life of Wilhelm Wachendorf, who died at the end of June 1949, and his family resembled the life of many thousands of comparable households of his time. The main difference is that Wachendorf documented family life in detail in handwriting. 1960 he published a book youth from the Gängeviertel . Helmut Wachendorf treated there in 1970 in the mimeographed typescript In Gängeviertel my father stood cradle .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Wachendorf, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German businessman
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH June 28, 1949
Place of death Hamburg