Fonds Best. 1073 - Mevissen, Gustav of

27 m; 730 Akten.

Description:This publication opens up a legacy that has been in the Historical Archive for almost one hundred years now. Until a few years ago, the documents were only accessible via a handwritten find book, the oldest part of which had been laid out by the former head of the city archives, Joseph Hansen. The numerous supplements and additions, the various signature layers and signature changes did not make the handling of the finding aid easy, and probably also deterred from using the estate. This is perhaps one of the reasons why, since Hansen's extensive biography of 1906, no newer, comparably broad investigation of Mevissens' life and work has been presented. Such a biography, however, is all the more urgently desired, as Hansen's biography, despite all its merits, is outdated as an object of research solely because of the author's closeness, not only to the temporal one, and yet continues to shape the judgement of the Rhenish entrepreneur Mevissen to this day. Recent research on individual aspects has revealed shortcomings and contradictions in the biography, and a renewed, comprehensive scientific examination of what was perhaps the most important 19th-century Rhenish entrepreneur is therefore desirable, and certainly fruitful, not least because of the richness of the estate. The extensive correspondence with contemporaries from business, politics, society and culture, which deserves intensive examination and evaluation, is worthy of special mention. If the present publication would set such a discourse on Mevissens' person and work in motion, this would be very welcome beyond the immediate occasion of the publication, namely the return of the 100th anniversary of his death on 13 August 1899. Mevissen was first and foremost an entrepreneur, a dynamic founder and highly competent organiser of banking, insurance, transport and industrial companies, the latter primarily in the textile, mining and mechanical engineering sectors. But his personality was more complex, more versatile. Mevissen was a politically thinking and acting person, on the national level as a member of parliament and undersecretary of state of the Frankfurt Reich government, on the local political level, among other things, as an alderman. He had ambitious concepts and goals for the interests of the community of Cologne as an economic, traffic and educational centre, and his efforts to reform school education led to the foundation of a commercial college, the predecessor of today's Cologne University. The Gesellschaft für Rheinische Geschichtskunde owes its origins in 1881 to his love of science, especially the historical sciences. In connection with its task of editing historical sources, Mevissen financially enabled the Historical Archives to begin organising, cataloguing and publishing the holdings of documents and records. Mevissen supported research into the history of the Rhineland and the city of Cologne. He has supported work projects, some of which have not yet created scientifically outdated foundations. For this promotion, which was continued after his death also by his daughters, first of all by Mathilde von Mevissen, he was able to win over and engage many Cologne and Rhineland entrepreneurs. The present publication is to be understood as a gesture of gratitude with which the archive of the initiator and founder of the Gesellschaft für Rheinische Geschichtskunde would like to commemorate and honour the friend and patron of the Historical Archive of the City of Cologne. to publish the indexing of the Mevissen estate in print was only possible because the arranger Manfred Groten had arranged the estate in the years 1991 - 1992, registered it and indexed it in a finding aid with personal register. He, whom the Historical Archive lost as a result of a call to the University of Cologne in 1998, deserves first and foremost thanks. Mechthild Willmes went to a lot of trouble in order to get it to print quickly and smoothed out the discrepancies that had arisen in the meantime due to extensive file restoration, checked the estate once again for its completeness and determined the size of the file units. The undersigned made some changes to the text necessary for printing and created the company, local and subject index. Special thanks go to the Cologne Chamber of Industry and Commerce and its President Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim. It, the Chamber, financially supported the publication of the estate of its President from 1856-1860, thus placing the Historical Archive in the fortunate position of commemorating its patron. Volume 86 of the series of announcements presents a publication which is committed to the archival work of Mevissen, both ideally and financially supported, namely the organisation, indexing and publication of archive holdings. Cologne, August 1999Everhard KleinertzDaten zu Person und WerkGustav von Mevissen (1815-1899) played an important role in the economic, political and cultural life of his time. As President of the Rheinische Eisenbahngesellschaft, he played a leading role in the development of the German transport network. He was involved in the textile and mining industry, banking, insurance and shipping. As a liberal politician, he belonged to the united Prussian state parliament of 1847, the Frankfurt National Assembly, the Volkshaus in Erfurt, and later the Herrenhaus. He held various political offices. In Cologne, he acted as deputy. Mevissen promoted and supported a large number of cultural institutions and projects The following list is intended to provide an overview of the economic undertakings initiated and promoted by Mevissen, some of which were significantly shaped, and of his political activities and cultural endeavours:1815 May 20: Birth of Gustav Mevissen in Dülken.1828 Attendance of the Karmelitergymnasium, the later Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium in Cologne, admission to the Quinta; move to the Quarta of the Marzellengymnasium in Cologne in autumn 1828.1829 In 1830 he joined his father's company in Dülken: yarn production and yarn wholesale business, agricultural property with land product business and oil mill. 1836-1838 Extensive travel activity for the company to the Rhineland and Westphalia, also to Belgium; 1838 travel to the English textile regions, at the suggestion of the Prussian Ministry of Finance. In Holbeck near Leeds he visits Marshall's large flax spinning mill.

Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln (Archivtektonik) >> Nachlässe und Sammlungen >> Nachlässe, Partei-, Vereins-, Familienarchive >> Buchstabe M

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