Arnold Heinrich Albert von Maybach (29 November 1822 – 21 January 1904) was a German lawyer, politician and railway manager.

Life

Albert von Maybach was born on 29 November 1822 at Werne an der Lippe as the son of the mayor (''

Bürgermeister Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

'') of Werne. Maybach went to the grammar school at

Recklinghausen Recklinghausen (; Westphalian: ''Riäkelhusen'') is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the capital of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and indus ...

and studied law and politics at

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In 1845 he entered the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

legal service. He became a

junior barrister A junior barrister is a barrister who has not yet attained the rank of King's Counsel. Although the term is archaic and not commonly used, junior barristers (or "juniors") can also be referred to as utter barristers derived from "outer barristers ...

(''Gerichtsassessor'') in 1850 and a district

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

in 1852 at

Hagen Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...

. In 1854 he switched careers and joined the headquarters of the

Prussian state railways The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...

and from 1858 he was an official (a ''Vortragender Rat'') in the Ministry of Trade. He was chairman of the board of the Upper Siliesian Railway (''Oberschlesische Eisenbahn'') at Breslau and, from 1863 to 1867, head of the Eastern Railway division at

Bromberg Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

. From 1 March 1867 to 9 January 1874 he ran the railway division in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. At the behest of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

, in 1874 Maybach was appointed as head of the Imperial Railway Office (''Reichseisenbahnamt''). Bismarck's project to purchase the main railway lines for the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

failed, however, due to opposition from Germany's central states. Likewise, in 1875, the proposal by Maybach to the Bundesrat (the Federal Council of State Deputies) was also not taken up. Maybach gave up his post as president of the toothless Reich Railway Office in 1876 and was nominated as Under Secretary of State in the Prussian Ministry of Trade. After the resignation of Heinrich von Achenbach, he took over as head of the Ministry on 30 March 1878 and made his top priority the nationalisations of the most important railway lines in northern Germany. In 1879 the Ministry for Public Works was broken out of the Ministry of Trade. Maybach was appointed as Minister of Public Works and the management of the

was also transferred to him. With great skill he carried through an extensive programme of procuring private railways for the Prussian state and organised the management of its enormous railway network. From 1882 to 1888 and again from 1890 to 1893 Maybach was a member of the

Prussian House of Representatives The Prussian House of Representatives (german: Preußisches Abgeordnetenhaus) was the lower chamber of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the upper house, the House of ...

. In 1888 he was elevated to the nobility. In 1894 his daughter Helene married the noted cellist

Robert Hausmann Robert Hausmann (13 August 185218 January 1909) was a notable 19th-century German cellist who premiered important works by Johannes Brahms (including the Double Concerto) and Max Bruch (including ''Kol Nidrei''). He was the cellist for the Joach ...

Impact

Maybach achieved his greatest success as a minister in reforming the German railway system. He established the pan-German railway organisation and fought against the interests of private railway companies, which would have prevented the intensive expansion of railway lines across Germany. This battle led to the nationalisation of the most important railways in Germany. Schools, roads, squares and mines have all been named after Maybach. The district of ''Maybach'' in the Saarland town of

Friedrichsthal Friedrichsthal is a town and a municipality in the district of Saarbrücken, of Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximately 13 km northeast of Saarbrücken. Friedrichsthal (Saar) station is located on the Bingen (Rhein)–Saarbrücke ...

was also named after Albert von Maybach. He died on 20 January 1904 in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

Honours

* Grand Commander's Cross of the Royal

House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern (german: Hausorden von Hohenzollern or ') was a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Hohenzollern awarded to military commissioned officers and civilians of comparable status. Associated with the various ...

, ''22 March 1882'' (

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

) * Grand Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown, ''1883'' (

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which exist ...

) * Knight of the

Order of Berthold the First The Order of Berthold the First was a dynastic order in the Grand Duchy of Baden. It was established on 29 April 1877 by Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of his accession as an additional class above the gran ...

, ''1884'' (

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subs ...

)''Hof- und Staats-Handbuch ... Baden'' (1896), "Großherzogliche Orden
p. 78
/ref> * Grand Cross of the

Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle (german: Roter Adlerorden) was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful se ...

, with Oak Leaves, ''10 January 1886'' (Kingdom of Prussia) * Grand Cross of the Grand Ducal Hessian Order of Ludwig, ''24 May 1888'' (

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

)

Sources

* ''Maybach, Albert.'' In
''Meyers Konversationslexikon.'' 4. Auflage.
Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts, Leipzig und Wien 1888–1890

References

External links