Carl Gustav Friedrich Hasselbach (21 March 1809 – 21 April 1882) was a

privy councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

, member of the Prussian House of Lords, and served as Lord Mayor of the city of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

from 1851 to 1881.

Early life

Born in

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

(

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

) to a shipping lawyer, Hasselbach attended school in Stettin, then studied law and public administration at the universities in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

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 ...

. He entered the Prussian civil service in 1830. Over the next 21 years he would hold various positions at Prussian government offices in

, Gumbinnen and

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

Career

Hasselbach was elected Mayor of Magdeburg in 1851. A staunch conservative and royalist, Hasselbach was promoted to "Lord" Mayor of Magdeburg in 1854 by King

Frederick William IV of Prussia Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

. That promotion made Hasselbach a member of the Prussian House of Lords. He served as a Vice President of the Prussian Upper House from 1872 to 1875. Hasselbach served as Mayor until 1881, when he retired for health reasons. The city grew dramatically during his tenure. He oversaw several infrastructure projects, including a new waterworks, sewage system, a gas lighting system, a new train station and a new bridge over the Elbe. But his most important development was the physical expansion of the city, granting Magdeburg room to grow its industrial base.

Personal life

Hasselbach married Auguste Cremat in 1837. The couple had five children.

Honors and recognition

The city of Magdeburg erected a monument in Hasselbach's honour at the centre of an important traffic intersection, Hasselbachplatz. The monument was moved in 1927. Damaged during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the monument was eventually restored in the late 1990s.

Sources

* Mathias Tullner, ''

Magdeburger Biographisches Lexikon The ''Magdeburger Biographische Lexikon'' (short ''MBL'') is a specialized dictionary for biographies related to the city of Magdeburg and the surrounding districts of Börde, Jerichower Land, and the former Schönebeck Land. It is the definitiv ...

'', Magdeburg 2002, * Martin Wiehle, ''Magdeburger Persönlichkeiten'', 1993, Magdeburg, 1809 births 1882 deaths Politicians from Szczecin Mayors of places in Saxony-Anhalt People from the Province of Pomerania Members of the Prussian House of Lords {{Germany-mayor-stub