fonds N 2, 1850-1978 (251VE) Foreword Biographical The grandfather of Richard Feiber was a medical officer in Castellaun in the Hunsrück region. Richard Adolf Robert Feiber, Protestant, was born on 27 May 1869 in Koblenz as the son of Captain Robert Feiber and his wife Helene, née Michael ( 1911). In May 1906 Feiber moved to Bergisch Gladbach, first into the Gasstraße and to 20.02.1909 finally into the Gronauerstraße 25 (today Hauptstraße 17) into the newly built house ("Feibersche Haus"). Richard Feiber married Martha Margaretha Viktoria Feiber, née Westphal (15.06.1875 in Bergisch Gladbach, 11.05.1946) on 26.09.1896. The following children emerged from the marriage: - Elsbeth (23.02.1901 in Wesel, 24.07.1942 in Lublin, engaged to medical soldier Gerhard Wolters) -Roland (11.01.1904 in Wesel, Dipl.-Ing., 21.01.1990 in Bergisch Gladbach), married Else Unruh. Children: Helga Roswitha (1939) and Turid (1942) -Gerda (04.08.1909 in Bergisch Gladbach, married Walther Armin Heinrich Gehnen from Porz on 26.11.1932, 12.05.1993) -Friedrich Robert Helmuth (*23.09.1897 in Bergisch Gladbach, died as a war volunteer as a result of wounding on 06.06.1915 in Sainghin/North of France) Feiber began his military career in 1879 as a cadet in Oranienstein and from1884 in Groß-Lichterfelde. In 1887 he joined the infantry regiment 57 Herzog Ferdinand von Braunschweig as a port midshipman and worked from 17.02.1894 to 18.12.1895 as an educator at the cadet school in Bensberg. From 1896-1899 Feiber attended the war academy and was promoted to captain in 1903. On 10.04.1906 he retired from service, but was reused in 1914-16. From April 1906 Feiber worked temporarily for the Köttgen Cie. company. Paul Köttgen was the brother-in-law of Richard Feiber. On 1 July 1906 Feiber became the company's authorised signatory. In Wesel Feiber was city commander for 19 years in military service as captain (since July 1903) and later as major. He belonged to the Infantry Regiment 57 Duke Ferdinand of Braunschweig (8th Westphalian). About this regiment, Feiber compiled a list of all the records on the basis of personal and historical data collected. In January 1915 Richard Feiber received the Iron Cross after having successfully participated as a captain in the Battle of Soissons. On 31 July 1916 Feiber was finally released from military service. In 1935 the "Ring of former Bensberger" was founded, an association of former Bensberger cadets. Feiber belonged to her and helped organize the regular cadet meetings. In 1947 he wrote an extensive documentation about the history of the Bensberg cadet house. For the "Ring of former Bensbergers", Feiber wrote honorary books with 671 names of former Bensbergers, which Feiber completed on April 20, 1944. The original intention was to create a memorial for the fallen of the First World War. However, this could not be achieved. Over time the project became a memorial for the Kadettenhaus Bensberg in the form of a book of honour. Initially, only the cadets at the Kadettenhaus in Bensberg and the fallen soldiers of the First World War from Bensberg were to be included. However, Feiber extended this requirement to the wars and colonial battles before the First World War. In addition to the cadets, he also included the officers and teachers who had worked at the cadet house in his line-up. As leader of the circle of friends of former cadets ("Ring former Bensberger") Feiber was significantly involved in the design of the cadet memorial room in the Bensberger castle. The room burned to the ground on March 2, 1942. Furthermore, from November 1918 Feiber was first deputy chairman, then until 1933 chairman of the Kreiskriegerverband Mülheim am Rhein, of which he was last honorary leader. In 1909/10 Feiber was chairman of the local group Bergisch Gladbach of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Sprachverein. In this function he was also a temporary member of the small subcommittee of the city's construction and finance commission for proposals for street names in the city of Bergisch Gladbach. From 1 April 1919 to 31 March 1925 Feiber was a member of the school committee of the higher educational institution. In the 1920s, Feiber was a member of the assessment commission in Bergisch Gladbach, whose task it was to assess the damage caused by the occupation. He was also a commercial judge from July 1920 to July 1923 and a labour judge from 1 June 1927. Until 1931 he was chairman of the Gewerbliche Vereinigung and until 1927 board member of the Arbeitgeberverband der Metallindustrie. Feiber in der Gesellschaft Erholung e.V. Bergisch Gladbach was also a member of the Executive Board. There he was chairman from 1914-1917. For the moved town councillor Wilhelm Pennartz Richard Feiber moved on 07.04.1925 as a substitute man in the town council. He belonged to the party "Wirtschaftliche Liste" (WL). At the election of the city council on 17.11.1929, Feiber entered the city parliament as a member of the Liberal Association Bergisch Gladbach (LV) (until 1933). After that, he wasn't a city councillor anymore. He joined the NSDAP in April 1933, but was expelled from the party in 1934. From 1933 Feiber was a local group leader of the local group of the Reichsluftschutzbund, founded on 5 August 1933 in the Bergisch Gladbach town hall. Feiber was involved in the Protestant parish of Bergisch Gladbach. Like his father-in-law Friedrich Westphal, he was churchmaster (from January 1933), but later resigned from this office. Richard Feiber passed away on 11.09.1948. The history of the collection and its holdings About Mrs. Herta Jux, née Meese, 8 archive cartons and 3 large folders were initially placed in the city archive at the beginning of 1990. Later, further documents were handed over. The documents handed over all originate from the so-called "Feiber¿sche Haus" ("German House") at Hauptstraße 17. Herta Jux, great-granddaughter of Friedrich Westphal about Elisabeth Köttgen, née Westphal and widely also related to Richard Feiber, wrote an essay about this house in the Rheinisch-Bergisches Kalender. Today the house is owned by the daughter of Prof. Dr. Ulrich and Herta Jux. In the above-mentioned transfers there were many letters from the families Feiber, Westphal and von Oven. The letters from Feiber's immediate family remained in N 2, whereas the letters and all other documents concerning the extensive Westphal family and von Oven respectively reached N 14, the estate of Friedrich Westphal. The newly formed estate N 10 Maria Grosch was the result of a further bundle of letters and documents that had long been kept in the city archives under the (unlisted) estate of Malotki of Trzebiatowski. During the First World War the celebrations wrote each other daily, sometimes several times a day. There was a lively exchange of letters between the married couple Richard and Margaretha Feiber and between Helmut Feiber and his parents Richard and Margaretha. Richard Feiber's letters are more about war from a personal point of view, whereas his war diaries give an impression of the everyday life of a military trainer. Military and military history is a thematic focus of the collection. Feiber has dealt intensively with the history of the infantry regiment Duke Ferdinand von Braunschweig (8th Westphalian) No. 57. He reworked the regimental history for this regiment and created a list of all regiments for this regiment. The preparatory work for this can be found in the inventory. Of local historical importance is Feiber's commitment to the furnishing of a cadet memorial room in the New Bensberg Palace in the 1940s. The list of members of the Kameradschaftliche Vereinigung Bergisch Gladbach may also be of local historical interest. Another focus of the collection is on files relating to the various administrative activities that Richard Feiber carried out on behalf of his family members. For the four tribes of the descendants of Friedrich Westphal, Feiber was responsible for the administration of the common hereditary property in Bergisch Gladbach. The extensive file on this subject sheds light on aspects of Bergisch Gladbach's city history, particularly with regard to the distribution of land, urban and development planning, the significance of the so-called Trasskaule and the effects of the global economic crisis on the value of inherited property. Last but not least, these files also provide information about family history. Richard Feiber continued with the matters that had not yet been concluded upon the death of Friedrich Westphal. This concerns above all the asset management for his mother-in-law Christiane Westphal, and thus in close connection, the regulation of matters concerning the Oven¿schen Stiftungsfonds. Feiber was predestined for these tasks due to his diligence and his comprehensive expertise. Beyond Bergisch Gladbach the documents of Feiber, which deal with family research, are of importance. Feiber has collected extensive information about the families Feiber, Westphal and von Oven. References The maps and plans from the estate of Feiber which exceed a certain size can be found in the map holdings under K 1/1422-1425 and K 1/1428. In the photo collection of the Gerhard Saffran collection belonging to R 5 there is the photo collection of Richard Feiber (signatures L 105/1-25). On the photos L 105/49, L 105/110-111 you can see Richard Feiber himself. Gerhard Saffran and Richard Feiber met when Feiber was busy building the cadet memorial room in Bensberg Castle. Saffran helped him get some remembrance material. In addition, the Saffran Collection also contains the honorary books I and II of the Royal Prussian Cadet House Bensberg, which Feiber wrote in neat handwriting (signatures R 5/26-27). These honorary books, which contain a compilation of biographical data and military careers of the former Bensberg cadets, are based on genealogical research on the cadets. There is a file with the signature R 5/28 about this. A document about the Kadettenhaus Bensberg by Richard Feiber can be found in the archive library under the signature WM 236 or in the collections of the archive under S 6/166. The list of members of the Kameradschaftliche Vereinigung Bergisch Gladbach (Comradeship Association Bergisch Gladbach) includes a sound cassette recording of conversations between the son Roland Feiber and the archive director Ellis Kreuwels (T 3/10). An oil painting in a wooden frame, which had originally been handed over with the estate documents, was handed over to the Villa Zanders Municipal Gallery. It is a painting by Carl Schön: The warship S.M.S. Iltis in front of the Takuforts during the defeat of the Südforts on 17.6.1900. It was a gift from Admiral von Lans to the Ring of former Bensbergers for the new cadet memorial room, presented on 12.4.1942. Richard Feiber continued the affairs perceived by him after the death of his father-in-law Friedrich Westphal. These include, for example, negotiations that have not yet been finally concluded, property matters and the administration of von Oven¿ family support funds. If in part of these files the basis or the majority of the documents were created by Friedrich Westphal, they were recorded at N 14. The following files in estate N 14 Friedrich Westphal were further processed by Richard Feiber: -N 14/114 Documents on the internal relationship of Friedrich Westphal as a partner in the Zanders company and as a negotiating partner in property matters -N 14/108 Administration of the Hausarmenfonds donated by Caroline von Oven née Moll, widow of Carl Engelbert von Oven, by Friedrich Westphal - N 14/109 Financial support for Margaretha Feiber née Westphal and her husband Richard Feiber by Friedrich Westphal Michael Krischak April 2009
