Gesellschaftshaus
Memorial plaque, Großen Petersgrube 27

The Gesellschaft zur Beförderung gemeinnütziger Tätigkeit ("Society for the Furtherance of Charitable Activities") is Lübeck's oldest charitable organization.

History

It was the preacher at St. Peter's Church, Lübeck (and later lawyer) Ludwig Suhl (1752–1819) and his friends Christian Adolph Overbeck, Johann Julius Walbaum, Anton Diedrich Gütschow, Gottlieb Nicolaus Stolterfoth, Johann Friedrich Petersen, and Nicolaus Heinrich Brehmer who, on 27 January 1789, founded this charity, first of all as a Literärische Gesellschaft ("literary society") with sidelines of scientific research and education; in 1791 the society's scope was broadened, and in 1793 it acquired the name it still bears today, although it is often abbreviated as the Gemeinnützige.

The democratically structured and middle class society and its social house (from 1826 at the address Breite Strasse 33, and from 1891 at Königstrasse 5) rapidly became the centre of practical reform work in the spirit of the Enlightenment. The company was involved in the improvement of conditions in many areas of life; for example, it established a River Lifesavers Institute. It was associated with the newspaper Neue Lübeckische Blätter and with the Jung-Lübeck, a Vormärz movement.

It ran the Sparkasse zu Lübeck, a credit union, and up to 1934 the Museum of Art and Cultural History. In 1938 their concert, theatre and lecture hall, the Kolosseum, was moved to the Kronsforder Allee.

On its hundredth anniversary in 1889 it received Lübeck's highest honour, the Gedenkmünze Bene Merenti. It is the only incorporated society to win this award. Eight former directors were given medals.

Present

The society has numerous subsidiary societies and unions, which contribute to the cultural and social life of the city. For example, it found a home for the St. Mary's Boys' Choir on the premises of the society in the Bürgergärten. As a trustee it manages a large number of dependent organisations, such as the Ferdinand Heinrich Grautoff-Stiftung.

Directors of the society

NameIncumbencyRatslinieNotesPortrait
Ludwig Suhl
(1752–1819)
1789–1790 Founder; archdeacon at St. Peter's Church, Lübeck, founded the society at his home Großen Petersgrube 27, today part of the Musikhochschule ("Music High School")
Christian Adolph Overbeck
(1755–1821)
1791 949 Supreme Court procurator
Adolph Friedrich Dehns
(1740–1806)
1792 Senate secretary; son of the preacher at St. Giles's Church, Lübeck, Johann Balthasar Dehns, council secretary from 1769.[1]
**Ludwig Suhl 1793 Assessor of the cathedral chapter
**Christian Adolph Overbeck 1794–1797 949 Second General Counsel of the chapter
Gottlieb Nicolaus Stolterfoht
(1763–1806)
1798–1801 Last preacher at the Burgkloster, and according to the Lübecker Adressbuch for 1798 also a preacher at the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital and the Pockenhaus. During the French invasion, the Battle of Lübeck, he was mortally wounded by a bullet in the hallway of his home.
Anton Diedrich Gütschow
1802–1803 Counsel
***Ludwig Suhl 1804–1808 Titular assessor
Johann Friedrich Petersen
(1760–1845)
1808–1814 Cathedral preacher. First recipient of the Gedenkmünze Bene Merenti (1835).[2]
Nicolaus Heinrich Brehmer
(1765–1822)
1814–1818 Doctor, father of the senator and Burgomaster Heinrich Brehmer
****Ludwig Suhl (died 1819) 1818–1819 Dr. jur., lawyer, titular assessor
**Nicolaus Heinrich Brehmer 1819–1821 Doctor
Bernhard Heinrich von der Hude
1821–1825 Pastor, St. Mary's Church, Lübeck
Johann Friedrich Hach
1825–1830 955 Supreme Court of Appeal, recipient of the Gedenkmünze Bene Merenti (1850)
Christian Gerhard Overbeck
(1784–1846)
1830–1833 Supreme Court of Appeal, member of Jung-Lübeck movement
**Johann Friedrich Hach 1833–1836 Supreme Court of Appeal
**Christian Gerhard Overbeck 1836–1839 Supreme Court of Appeal
Heinrich von der Hude
1798–1853
1839–1842 Supreme Court of Appeal procurator, also at the regional court and the Lower Court. In 1844 the third councillor and in 1852 senator
Friedrich Boldemann
(1788–1865)
1842–1845 Underwriting agent, Schonenfahrer and Citizen
Johann Heinrich Behn
1845–1848 Actuary
Johannes Classen
1848–1851 Professor at the Katharineum
Hermann Wilhelm Hach
(1800–1867)
1851–1854 992 Senator, son of the senator Johann Friedrich Hach.
Georg Friedrich Ludwig Oppenheimer
1854–1856 Supreme Court of Appeal councillor
Karl Martin Joachim Klug
1856–1859 Pastor at St. Jacob's Church, Lübeck
Friedrich Wilhelm Mantels
1859–1862 Professor at the Katharineum, former member of Jung-Lübeck movement
Wilhelm von Bippen (Arzt)
(† 1865)
1862–1865 Practising physician
Heinrich Gustav Plitt
1865–1868 1002 Director of the Lower Court, from 1868 senator
Wilhelm Brehmer
1868–1871 1005 Lawyer, from 1870 senator, recipient of the Gedenkmünze Bene Merenti (1901)
Carl Alexander von Duhn
1871–1874 Member of the Supreme Court, former member of the Jung-Lübeck movement
Friedrich Adolph Hach
(1832–1896)
1874–1877 Actuary for the Police
August Heinrich Sartori
1877–1889 Teacher at the Katharineum, from 1880 professor
Heinrich Klug
1886–1889 1012 Senator, recipient of the Gedenkmünze Bene Merenti (1904)
Johann Georg Eschenburg
1883–1886 1017 Senate secretary, from 1885 senator, recipient of the Gedenkmünze Bene Merenti (1910)
**Heinrich Klug 1886–1889 1012 Senator
Ernst Christian Johannes Schön
1889–1892 1022 Public prosecutor
Adolf Brehmer
1892–1895 Lawyer
Emil Ferdinand Fehling
1895–1898 1023 Lawyer, from 1896 senator, recipient of the Gedenkmünze Bene Merenti (1917)
Johannes Daniel Benda
1898–1901 District court judge, from 1901 public prosecutor, recipient of the Gedenkmünze Bene Merenti (1919)
Ernst Julius Ludwig Müller
1901–1904 Director of the Johanneum
**Ernst Christian Johannes Schön 1904–1907 1022 Senator
Johann Martin Andreas Neumann
1907–1910 1029 Senator
Karl Friedrich Robert Dimpker
1910–1913 1037 Counsel and praeses of the Board of Trade
Christian Reuter
1913–1915 Director of the Katharineum
Cay Diedrich Lienau
1915–1918 1034 Senator
Johann Hermann Friedrich Evers
1918–1921 Pastor of St. Mary's
Hermann Stodte
1921–1924 Direktor at the Johanneum
Rudolf Keibel
1924–1927 First Counsel of the Board of Trade
Adolf Ihde 1927–1930 born 1881 in Lübeck, died 1959 in Sierksdorf; lawyer and notary
Karl Utermarck
1930–1933 District court president
Hans Sellschopp
1933–1938 Merchant
Bernhard Otto Clausen
1939–1945 Leader in the NSDAP
**Adolf Ihde
1945–1949 Lawyer and notary
Wilhelm Kusche
(† 1951)
1949–1951 Director at the cathedral school
Rolf Sander
1952–1958 District court councillor
Gerhard Gaul
1958–1961 Lawyer and notary. Recipient of the Gedenkmünze Bene Merenti (1982)
Gerhard Schneider
1961–1964 Senator
**Rolf Sander
1964–1966 Judge at the district court
Werner Dalstein 1967–1969 Planning director
Julius Edelhoff 1970–1972 Chief medical director
Gerhard Lund 1973–1975 Lawyer and notary
Christoph Deecke 1976–1978 Architect
Boto Kusserow 1979–1984 Lawyer and notary
**Christoph Deecke
(1924–2004)
1985 Architect
Hans-Helmke Goosmann (b. 1927) 1991–1996 Architect
Renate Menken (b. 1943) 1997–2002 Pharmacist
Helmut Wischmeyer (b. 1935) 2003–2005 Property developer
Antje Peters-Hirt (b. 1953) 2006–2011 Germanist

Note. The term of office is three years; immediately following terms are not specifically highlighted in the table, but can be deduced. Additional terms of office, after the term of a different incumbent, are marked by asterisks, so ** indicates a second additional period, and *** indicates a third. The Ratslinie number gives the position in the official register of 1925, Emil Ferdinand Fehling's Ratslinie.

See also

  • Lübeckische Blätter, newspaper
  • Der Wagen, an almanac for Lübeck
  • Patriotische Gesellschaft von 1765 ("Patriotic Society of 1765") in Hamburg
  • Gesellschaft für das Gute und Gemeinnützige Basel, a charity in Basel

Bibliography

  • Friedrich Bruns: Die Lübecker Syndiker und Ratssekretäre bis zur Verfassungsänderung von 1851 in: ZVLGA Band 29 (1938), S. 91 – 168.
  • Hermann Stodte: Festschrift zur 150-Jahr-Feier der Gesellschaft zur Beförderung gemeinnütziger Tätigkeit zu Lübeck, begründet 1789. Lübeck 1939.
  • Georg Behrens, 175 Jahre Gemeinnütziges Wirken, Lübeck 1964
  • Ahasver von Brandt: Das Lübecker Bürgertum zur Zeit der Gründung der "Gemeinnützigen" – Menschen, Ideen und soziale Verhältnisse. In: Der Wagen 1966, S. 18–33.
  • Emil Ferdinand Fehling, Lübeckische Ratslinie, Lübeck 1925.
  • Vorsteherschaft der Gesellschaft (Hrsg.), 200 Jahre Gesellschaft zur Beförderung gemeinnütziger Tätigkeit in Lübeck 1789–1989, Lübeck 1989

Notes

  1. Friedrich Bruns: Die Lübecker Syndiker und Ratssekretäre bis zur Verfassungsänderung von 1851. In: ZVLGA Band 29 (1938), S.91 (163ff.).
  2. Ahasver von Brandt: Bene Merenti – Ein Lübisches Ehrenzeichen, seine Geschichte und seine Inhaber in: Der Wagen 1958, S. 58–64
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