Franz Hesselberger facts for kids
Franz Hesselberger (born March 12, 1876, in Munich, Germany – died July 15, 1935, in Munich) was a German businessman, a special advisor for trade, and someone who supported the arts.
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Life and Work
Franz Hesselberger was the second oldest of five children. His parents were Julius Hesselberger, a leather goods seller, and Berta Gutmann. His father, Julius, came from a family of important hop merchants. On June 22, 1903, Julius was given the title of Kommerzienrat, which was a special honor for successful business people.
In 1869, Julius and his brother Isador started a company called Gebrüder Hesselberger in Munich. They bought and sold leather and leather goods. At first, they imported raw materials from India, and later from other parts of Asia, America, and Africa.
In 1889, the company began making its own leather goods in a factory in Munich. They added new buildings in 1917, including an office and a place for workers to eat. The factory had the newest machines for processing leather. These machines were powered by a large steam engine and could process many animal hides each year. The factory had about 250 workers, and it offered them a canteen, a health support group, baths, and homes.
Growing the Business
After his uncle Isidor passed away on May 23, 1901, Franz became a partner in the company. When his father, Julius, died on March 15, 1904, Franz took over running the company with his brother Erich and cousin Max Alfons. Franz was an expert in leather tanning. He also served on the board of a shoe factory and was part of the group that approved stocks for the Munich stock exchange. The Gebrüder Hesselberger company was also one of the first members of a big association for business owners in Munich.
Franz Hesselberger owned many important properties in Munich. These included the factory, a retail store in the city center, and other buildings.
On August 14, 1908, Franz Hesselberger married Ilse Minna Rosa Wertheim in Frankfurt am Main. She was the granddaughter of the person who started the German sewing machine factory. The couple moved into a large palace in Munich. In September 1910, their son Heinz Julius was born. Three years later, on October 13, 1913, their daughter Gertraud, also called Trudy, was born. Both children were baptized as Protestants because Ilse Hesselberger had changed her faith earlier.
On January 7, 1918, Franz was also given the title of Kommerzienrat. His family was very involved in helping others. For example, after his mother died, Julius Hesselberger sent money to the mayor of Munich to help the city's poor people.
Franz Hesselberger also created a foundation to help soldiers injured in the war, and the widows and orphans of those who died. He also started another foundation to support the workers and staff of his factory. In 1918, he gave a large donation to the Deutsches Museum, where he was a committee member. He also supported other scientific groups. Together with other companies, the Gebrüder Hesselberger company helped build homes for workers in 1918. During World War I, Franz Hesselberger even set up a small hospital for wounded soldiers in his home.
In January 1918, workers at the leather factory took part in a strike. Because he was a big business owner, Franz Hesselberger was worried about his family's safety. In 1919, he sent his children to his mother's estate and hid in a secret place. His wife went to stay with her sister. Revolutionaries searched their apartment for weapons but didn't find any. A few days later, when things calmed down, Hesselberger returned to Munich with his family.
In 1921, Franz Hesselberger was badly hurt in a car accident where his passenger died. The Hesselberger family then paid for the education of the passenger's daughter.
Rotary Club
When the Rotary Club of Munich was started on November 2, 1928, Franz Hesselberger was one of the first members. Even after moving to another town, he continued to attend the club's meetings regularly. However, on April 4, 1933, he and 13 other members were removed from the club. Most of these members were Jewish, except for the famous writer Thomas Mann. Their names were crossed off the attendance list.
Nazi Era
When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the Hesselberger family was targeted because they were Jewish.
Franz Hesselberger died at age 59 on July 15, 1935, in a Jewish hospital. He is buried in the Waldfriedhof cemetery in Munich. Soon after his death, the Gebrüder Hesselberger company stopped operating. In 1936, the Jewish community tried to set up a training school for young Jewish people in the empty factory. This school aimed to teach them skills so they could find jobs and leave the country. However, in 1939, the building was taken by the Gestapo (the Nazi secret police), and the training workshops were closed.
Under the Nazis' anti-Jewish laws, Ilse Hesselberger was considered Jewish and was persecuted. In October 1937, Ilse Hesselberger moved to her villa. She was forced to sell her properties under pressure from the Nazis. The family's estate was bought by the wife of a Nazi minister. The factory buildings went to the city of Munich in 1939. A Nazi officer tricked Ilse Hesselberger into giving him over 100,000 old German marks, making her believe it would save her from being sent away. Sadly, on November 20, 1941, she was deported from Munich to a concentration camp in Kaunas, where she was murdered five days later at age 51. A visa that would have allowed her to go to Cuba, arranged by her daughter Gertraud, arrived too late.
Fate of the Family Members
Julius Hesselberger died at age 56. He is buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery in Munich. Berta Hesselberger died on August 28, 1920. Max Alfons Hesselberger, who received military awards, died on March 23, 1918. He left his collection of 110 valuable pocket watches to a museum.
Else Hesselberger (born March 1, 1875) married Philipp Mezger and died in 1921 at age 46. Her son, Curt Mezger, was arrested in 1943 and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was later transferred to another camp and murdered a month and a half later in January 1945.
Erich Hesselberger (born August 13, 1877) served in the military during World War I. He died on March 27, 1916, near Verdun, France. He left behind his wife Elisabeth and two daughters. His grave is in the old part of the Waldfriedhof Munich. His name is also on a memorial for Jewish soldiers who died in the war.
Dorothea Hesselberger (born September 16, 1882) married Fritz Reiner. Along with her sister-in-law Ilse Hesselberger, Dorothea Reiner was deported to Kaunas on November 20, 1941, and murdered there on November 25, 1941.
Stefanie Hesselberger (born October 27, 1887) married a Nazi official. She lived in different places until early 1942. She was then officially registered in a collection camp but lived with her nephew Curt Mezger.
Heinz Julius Hesselberger went to school in Munich and Switzerland. He later lived in Lisbon and died in a swimming accident in Porto on September 14, 1935, shortly after his 25th birthday. He is buried in the Waldfriedhof in Munich.
Gertraud "Trudy" Hesselberger (born October 13, 1913) was taken by her mother to Milan and then flew to Rotterdam, where she boarded a ship for New York City on August 20, 1938. Soon after moving, she married Lee Sommer, a childhood friend. Gertraud Sommer passed away in New York City on July 30, 2012.
Restitution of Nazi-looted art
In 2022, a painting called Portrait of A Man, Facing Left, With A Quill and a Sheet of Paper, from around 1527, was returned by the German government to the family of Ilse Hesselberger. Many other artworks taken from the Hesselberger family are still being searched for today.
