Hermann Wildhagen

Hermann Wildhagen, a merchant who had been living at Bahnhofstraße 15 since 1 August 1885 (born 15 July 1855 in Rübeland, a village in the town of Oberharz am Brocken in the district of Harz, married to Elise Kochermann, died on 1 November 1944 in Kitzingen) applied for citizenship of the town of Kitzingen on 23 October 1890. As his place of birth was in the Duchy of Brunswick, citizenship was granted to him on 7 November 1890, subject to his prior acquisition of Bavarian citizenship.

Wildhagen, brother of the sweet manufacturer August Wildhagen, was a member of the ‘Liberal Association’ and was elected to the municipal council in 1908; serving on the Kitzingen Town Council from 22 December 1914 until the next local election on 15 June 1919. He provided financial support to the charity, campaigned vigorously for the re-establishment of a motor coach service between Kitzingen and Marktbreit, and championed the founding of a public library (1905). As the first shooting club master, he organised the 500th-anniversary celebrations of the Royal Private Shooting Society in 1908.

Furthermore, he had been a member of the executive committee of the “Association of German Confectionery and Chocolate Manufacturers” (Vereinigung Deutscher Zuckerwaren- und Schokolade-Fabrikanten e.V.) since 1903 and its first chairman since 1911; in 1922, he was made an honorary member. Wildhagen successfully steered the association and his two companies through numerous years of crisis, including the World War, the controlled economy and inflation. During this period, his leadership skills and foresight proved particularly valuable.

Wildhagen was also a co-founder and long-standing chairman of the board of the Purchasing Cooperative for the Confectionery Industry (Egesie), in which his concept of joint purchasing on a broad basis – which he had already been practising before the war – was realised and became an institution that benefited everyone. He also rendered outstanding services to the founding of the Reich Association of the German Confectionery Industry, the umbrella organisation for the Association of German Chocolate Manufacturers and the Association of German Confectionery and Chocolate Manufacturers in Würzburg.
Like his younger brother August, Hermann Wildhagen was awarded the title of Kommerzienrat in 1912.

In his explanatory statement, the then mayor, Ludwig Graff, wrote as follows:

“Mr Hermann Wildhagen, together with his brother August Wildhagen, runs a confectionery factory here, which has been thriving for years and is a great boon to the local population. In addition to confectionery itself, this factory also produces menthol lozenges. The owners relocated this production from Switzerland to Bavaria. Furthermore, the owners of the business here have established a completely new production facility through the construction of the so-called Pfirschinger Mineralwerke. Through these works, the company extracts earth in Lower Bavaria, in the municipality of Pfirsching, Eggenfelden district, which is chemically processed at the local factory and used for the purification of oils and other purposes. These products are mainly sold abroad in large quantities.Mr Hermann Wildhagen has also
already made an outstanding contribution to the community. Last year, for instance, he donated 10,000 marks towards a public swimming pool, and this year a further 5,000 marks for the same purpose. Together with his brother, this brings the total to 27,000 marks.

Hermann Wildhagen is a member of the local council and, as a councillor, carries out his duties with the common good always in mind, a approach characterised above all by foresight and objectivity. Through his support for other charitable causes, such as the public library, the town beautification society and the horse insurance association – of which he has been a board member for many years – Mr Hermann Wildhagen has become deeply rooted in the local community and is universally popular.

It would therefore seem justified to request that Mr Hermann Wildhagen be put forward to the Highest Authority for an honour.
He has consistently demonstrated a loyal disposition and is loyal to the King and the Empire.
Last year, Hermann Wildhagen’s brother was likewise awarded the highest honour of a Royal Commercial Councillor. It would certainly be a harshness that His Royal Highness Prince Regent Luitpold would not wish to see if Hermann Wildhagen, who is just as capable, upright and tirelessly diligent as his brother, were not to receive the same highest honour. The entire local population would welcome with joy the proposed highest honour for this much-loved citizen.”

Sources:

• File of the city magistrate of Kitzingen: I/A/8/02: Decorations and decorations of honour, 1871 - 1904.

• File of the city magistrate of Kitzingen: I/A/8/22: Honours, 1905 - 1914.

• Civil rights files: No. 210: Wildhagen, Hermann Julius, 1893. No. 227: Wildhagen, August, factory owner, 1900. No. 308: Wildhagen, Richard, merchant, 1914.

• Council minutes since 1945

• Falkenstein, Stephanie: The Wildhagenvilla. A contribution to the residential and living culture of the Gründerzeit in Kitzingen. Publication series of the Städtisches Museum Kitzingen Volume 11, Kitzingen 2016.