Gustav Harkort (3 March 1795, in Hagen – 29 August 1865, in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

) was a German

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and railroad pioneer from

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Biography

Gustav Harkort was the sixth of eight children of the hardware manufacturer and merchant Johann Caspar Harkort IV. He was also the brother of industrialist and politician Friedrich Harkort, entrepreneur Johann Caspar Harkort V. and mining engineer and officer Eduard Harkort. Gustav Harkort attended the trade school in

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

, and after completion, began a commercial apprenticeship in his father's company. In 1813 he took part in the

German Campaign of 1813 The German campaign () was fought in 1813. Members of the Sixth Coalition, including the German states of Austria and Prussia, plus Russia and Sweden, fought a series of battles in Germany against the French Emperor Napoleon, his marshals, and th ...

as a lieutenant in the Märkisches Landwehr Regiment. In 1829 Harkort directed the planning for the construction of the

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

-Leipzig railway line. On 3 April 1834 Harkort was one of the founders of the Railway Committee, which adopted the concept for a German railway network by

Friedrich List Daniel Friedrich List (6 August 1789 – 30 November 1846) was a German entrepreneur, diplomat, economist and political theory, political theorist who developed the Economic nationalism, nationalist theory of political economy in both Europe and t ...

(1789–1846) and built a first route between Leipzig and

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

(The Leipzig-Dresden Railway). He was the chairman of the board of directors of the Leipzig-Dresden Railway Company from its foundation in 1835 until his death. Harkort died on 29 August 1865 in Leipzig at the age of 70.

Recognitions

In 1864, on the 25th anniversary of the completion of the Leipzig-Dresden railway, Harkort was named an honorary citizen of the city of Leipzig. On 9 July 1878 a monument designed by the architect Carl Gustav Aeckerlein (1832–1886) in collaboration with the sculptor Eduard Lürssen (1840–1891) was inaugurated in Leipzig. Harkort's name is also included on the Leipzig railway memorial.

Literature

* Robert Boker : Harkort, Gustav. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966, ,p. 875 f.(Digitized). * Vera Hauschild (ed.): The great Leipzig people. 26 approximations. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main and others 1996, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harkort, Gustav Engineers from the Kingdom of Prussia German company founders People from Hagen 1795 births 1865 deaths