Draft:August Hesse

August Hesse
Born
German: August Heinrich Hesse

(1837-11-28)28 November 1837
Narva, Russian Empire
Died23 October 1916(1916-10-23) (aged 78)
Pskov, Russian Empire
Citizenship Russian Empire
OccupationsInsurance agent, merchant, philanthropist, civic leader
Spouses
  • Maria Hermina Amalia Auger (m. 1870)
  • Maria Georgievna Strumpf
ChildrenElsa, Maria (first marriage); Alexander, Boris
Parents
  • Friedrich Ludwig Hesse (father)
  • Anna Catharina Hesse (mother)
AwardsGold Medal "For Zeal" on the Order of St. Stanislaus ribbon (1896); Hereditary Honorary Citizen of Pskov (1905)
Signature

August Hesse (Russian: А́вгуст Фёдорович Ге́ссе, 28 November [O.S. 16 November] 1837, Narva – 23 October [O.S. 10 October] 1916, Pskov) was a Baltic German insurance agent, merchant, philanthropist, and civic leader in the Russian Empire. He served as chief inspector of the First Russian Insurance Company in Pskov and as a deputy (Russian: гласный) of the Pskov City duma. In 1905 he was granted the title of hereditary honorary citizen of Pskov.

He is best remembered for commissioning the construction of a four-storey revenue house on Sergievskaya Street (now Oktyabrsky Prospekt, 12Archived 29 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine), designed by the architect Fyodor Nesturkh. Known as the "Hesse House", it remains one of the architectural landmarks of modern Pskov.

Biography

The steamships Dorpat and Alexander at the river landing in Pskov. Late 19th-century postcard
Advertisement for commercial steamship service between Pskov and Dorpat. Pskov City Leaflet, 1 May 1888

August Hesse, a Baltic German by origin, was born in the city of Narva.[1] His parents belonged to the Narva burgher estate and professed the Lutheran faith. The exact year Hesse moved to Pskov is not known with certainty (biographers indicate the first decades of the 19th century),[2] where his relatives, the homeowners Franz and Luise Hesse, lived.[3] From then on, his life and that of his descendants were inseparably connected with the city.

Since the time of Peter the Great, Pskov had been home to a sizeable German community (according to a one-day census on 19 December 1863, out of 16,800 inhabitants approximately 1,500 were Lutherans, the majority of whom held Russian citizenship).[4] Members of this community played a prominent role in economic and public life. Despite his modest civil rank, August Hesse eventually became one of the city's best-known figures.

Early years in Pskov

Letter from August Hesse to Karl Ernst von Baer, reverse side with the author's signature

Local historians believe that Hesse came to Pskov on behalf of the Narva trading house of Gent, which owned the steamships Narva and Alexander, running daily between Dorpat and Pskov.[2][5] From 1865, Hesse was officially employed by Gent's Pskov office, managing the runs of these vessels. At the time he lived in the Aristova house on Sadovaya Street (now Pushkin Street).

His work frequently required him to negotiate with clients, some of whom were notable figures. A surviving letter from Hesse to Karl Ernst von Baer, dated 12 September [O.S. 31 August] 1866, concerns the shipping of furniture and books to Dorpat, where the eminent naturalist was to relocate from Saint Petersburg the following year.[6]

In addition to shipping, Hesse entered the insurance business. In 1866 he was appointed agent of the Russian Insurance Society for Capitals and Income "Life" (Russian: Российское общество страхования капиталов и доходов «Жизнь»), a post he held for seven years. Gradually, other insurance companies of the empire began to engage his services: the First Russian Insurance Company (1868), the Moscow-based "Anchor" company (1873), then "Dvigatel" (Engine), and later the Saint Petersburg "Nadezhda" (Hope) company (1882). Hesse collaborated with the First Russian Insurance Company for 40 years, rising to the post of general inspector for Pskov and its surroundings, while "Anchor" approved him as inspector for the whole of Russia in 1893. His expertise was also sought by other firms dealing in land, sea, and river transport insurance.[7]

In 1870, Hesse married Maria Hermina Amalia Auger, a native of Vitebsk. The couple had two daughters, Elsa and Maria. He later married Maria Georgievna Strumpf. He had two sons: Alexander and Boris. Boris died young of tuberculosis. Alexander became a teacher and a well-known figure in the Russian cultural movement in the Pechory region.[8]

The Lutheran Church of St. James (Jakobskirche) in Pskov. 19th-century postcard

Charitable and civic activities

Insurance was a lucrative business in those days. By the 1890s, Hesse had become wealthy enough to engage in moneylending. He lent 25,000 rubles to the merchant S. I. Kirillov, secured against a leather factory on the bank of the Velikaya River in the village of Kolyagino, Logozovskaya volost, near the local St. John the Baptist Monastery. Kirillov defaulted on the loan, and Hesse became the owner of the enterprise, thus entering the merchant estate.

During this period Hesse undertook extensive charitable work. He regularly contributed funds to support the women's parish school (from 1906 a private German progymnasium) and the almshouse at the Pskov Lutheran Church of St. James.[9] The church had been built by, and served as the parish of, his namesake Pastor-Adjunct Robert Hesse (who was, incidentally, a relative of the renowned German writer).[10]

Hesse also cared for prisoners. He was one of the directors of the Governorate Guardianship Committee for Prisons and a trustee of the "Pskov Central" katorga prison on Kakhanovsky Boulevard (now Oktyabrsky Prospekt, 50). His duties included ongoing organisational and financial support for correctional institutions.

In 1874, Hesse was first elected as a deputy of the Pskov City duma. He was re-elected numerous times thereafter and served on the audit commission. During this period he was an active member of the Russian Lifesaving Society (Russian: Общество спасения на водах), where his reputation for impeccable honesty earned him the post of treasurer. Largely through his efforts and personal funds, a public bathing facility on the Velikaya River operated from 1896.

For his work in improving conditions for prisoners, Hesse was awarded the gold Medal "For Zeal" (Russian: медаль «За усердие») on 27 June [O.S. 15 June] 1896.

Construction

View of Sergievskaya Street in the mid-19th century. The Church of St. Anastasia the Roman is visible in the distance
The same street in the early 20th century, after the opening of the tramway

In 1895, Hesse inherited a plot of land on Sergievskaya Street from his Pskov relatives, on which stood an old single-storey manor house with two wings. Sergievskaya, one of Pskov's two central thoroughfares, was at that time undergoing rapid development. Following the opening of the Pskov–Riga Railway (1885), the construction of a railway station and a railway bridge across the Velikaya, traffic had become very brisk — a tramway was even laid — and Sergievskaya was becoming the city's principal artery.

Hesse, who by then had accumulated considerable capital, decided to invest in a major building project designed to yield long-term returns. In 1896 he demolished the dilapidated structures on his plot and commissioned the city architect Fyodor Nesturkh to design a large four-storey building to serve simultaneously as a residence and a revenue house. Construction was completed the following year. The building was one of the tallest in the predominantly low-rise Pskov and was distinguished by its lavish decoration. Hesse spared no expense in its construction. The upper floors contained large, comfortable apartments, while the ground floor was intended for offices and shops. Hesse and his family occupied one of the apartments; the rest were let. The building also housed his insurance agency office, where one of the employees was his niece, Olga Petrovna Hesse. According to the Memorial Book of Pskov Governorate for 1905–1906, in the early years of the 20th century the same address also housed an Evangelical Lutheran women's school under Hesse's patronage.[10]

Bankruptcy and final years

With the turn of the new century, Hesse's commercial fortunes declined. Unable to settle his numerous debts, he was subjected to bankruptcy proceedings by the Pskov District Court. On 30 November [O.S. 17 November] 1904, the merchant August Hesse was officially declared insolvent. To satisfy his creditors, he was compelled to sell the leather factory and the property on Sergievskaya Street.

Thanks to his great civic reputation and extensive connections, however, the bankruptcy did not prove catastrophic. The factory was acquired by the Russo-Baltic Joint-Stock Company. The house on Sergievskaya Street was purchased in 1905 on amicable terms by the Saint Petersburg nobleman Leonid Lanceray, chairman of the board of the Russian Insurance Society, for which Hesse had long served as inspector. The house soon passed into the ownership of the Insurance Society itself. It retained its commercial status, and Hesse continued to live and work there. His son Alexander also resided there, remaining after his father's death until 1920.

Hesse's income as an insurance agent (no less than 1,500 rubles per year) remained his primary source of livelihood, allowing him to live comfortably and even to continue his philanthropy. In 1905, in recognition of his cumulative contributions to the city, the veteran Pskov insurance agent, City Duma deputy, and tireless philanthropist was awarded the title of hereditary honorary citizen of Pskov.

August Hesse died on 23 October [O.S. 10 October] 1916 and was buried in the Lutheran cemetery at the Church of St. James.

Hesse House

Sergievskaya Street on a late 19th-century postcard. Part of the Hesse House façade is visible on the right, with a sign for the "Tobacco Bazaar" shop

The revenue house on Sergievskaya Street — the first four-storey building in Pskov, with a sumptuous Renaissance Revival façade adorned with abundant relief ornamentation — is still regarded as one of the city's landmarks, a monument of sorts to August Hesse, bearing his name since the day it was built. Today the building is recognised as a regional cultural heritage site as a monument of residential architecture and the history of Pskov entrepreneurship.[11] This status was reaffirmed in 2012.[12]

The building is notable for the architect's use of the most up-to-date technical and artistic solutions of the day, which received the full approval of the patron. Shortly after the building's completion, in February 1897 the Pskov City Leaflet (Russian: Псковский городской листок) wrote that "Mr Hesse's house, which has beautified the whole of Sergievskaya Street", served as "the finest example of the merits of F. P. Nesturkh's buildings". Since then the building has been inseparable from the history of Pskov. Before the Revolution, in addition to fashionable apartments, Hesse's insurance office, and the women's school, the building housed expensive jewellery and tobacco shops, as well as other commercial enterprises. After the Revolution, the Hesse House was nationalised. During the Russian Civil War, it served as the headquarters of the revolutionary forces commanded by Jānis Fabriciuss, who at the time held the post of chairman of the Military Revolutionary Committee of Pskov District. During the Soviet era, the building went through a period of communal apartments and housed shops and grocery stores popular with Pskov residents. Today, the carefully restored Hesse House is a striking addition to the historic architectural ensemble of central Pskov.

References

  1. ^ Pamyatnaya knizhka Pskovskoy gubernii [Memorial Book of Pskov Governorate] for 1880, pp. 43, 62.
  2. ^ a b "Гессе Август Фёдорович". pskoviana.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Из истории псковских немцев [From the History of Pskov Germans]". vivaldi.pskovbook.ru. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021., p. 29.
  4. ^ Ibid., p. 7.
  5. ^ "Наши люди в Пскове [Our People in Pskov]". tellis.ucoz.ru. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Brief von August Hesse an Karl Ernst von Baer". digisam.ub.uni-giessen.de (in German). 1866. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Август Фёдорович Гессе". History of Pskov and Pskov Oblast. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Не прервётся связь времён. Материалы Общества краеведов при Печорской районной библиотеке [The Connection of Times Will Not Be Broken. Materials of the Society of Local Historians at the Pechory District Library], Issue 5". vivaldi.pskovbook.ru. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Женская прогимназия и богадельня при лютеранской церкви Святого Якова, улица Некрасова, 26". pskoviana.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Ф. 858 — Историческая справка: Псковская лютеранская церковная община [F. 858 — Historical Note: Pskov Lutheran Parish]". document.archive.pskov.ru. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  11. ^ Decree of the Pskov Oblast Council of Deputies, 30 January 1998, "On the Approval of the State Register of Immovable Monuments of History and Culture to Be Protected as Monuments of Local Significance".
  12. ^ Decree No. 187 of the Pskov Oblast Assembly of Deputies, 14 June 2012, "On the Approval of the State Register of Immovable Monuments of History and Culture to Be Protected as Monuments of Local Significance".


Category:1837 births Category:1916 deaths Category:People from Narva Category:People from Pskov Category:Russian philanthropists

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