Today is the birthday of Carl Funke (August 22, 1855-April 15, 1912). While he’s best known as “a German industrialist, President of the Chamber of Commerce, City Councilor in Essen, Germany, and a Privy Councilor of Commerce, he was also involved running the Stern-Brauerei, in Essen. In 1890, he took over his father’s shares in the brewery, “and became chairman of the supervisory board of the Actien beer brewery in Essen an der Ruhr, which later became the Stern brewery. He held the office until his death in 1912.”

Here’s a biography of Funke from Wikipedia:

As the son of the industrialist Fritz Funke, Carl Funke attended the Humboldtschule secondary school in Essen with an upper secondary school leaving certificate. He then studied linguistics at the University of Geneva. This was followed by commercial training at the Kalk Chemical Factory in Cologne and at the AG for the Chemical Industry in Gelsenkirchen-Schalke.

Carl Funke married the wealthy Katharina geb. Waldthausen, which made a significant contribution to the assets of the Funke family. They had four children together, with the son Fritz Funke (1888–1975) successfully continuing the family legacy.

At the age of 22, Carl Funke took over the management of the Pörtingsiepen colliery in Fischlaken, a later district of Essen. Among other things, he decisively increased their sales through a railway connection. In 1884, at the age of 29, he took over his father’s stake in the mine and continuously expanded his property in the following years by acquiring additional shares. Carl Funke was a member of the supervisory boards of a total of twenty companies and unions, including Deutsche Bank. In 1906 he completed his coal – mines the Essen coal mines AG together, whose supervisory board chairman he became. This year the Heisinger Tiefbau colliery on the Ruhr was named the Carl Funke colliery.

By taking over his father’s shares in 1890, Funke also became chairman of the supervisory board of the Actien beer brewery in Essen an der Ruhr , which later became the Stern brewery. He held the office until his death in 1912.

Since 1882 Funke was a city councilor in the city council of Essen and a member of the Essen district council. As a member of the Essener Verkehrsverein, Funke played a key role in the construction of the Kaiserhof Hotel on Lindenallee around 1900, bringing representative space to Essen for congresses and conferences. The building was badly damaged in World War II and finally abandoned in 1973. Today the SEB Bank, also known as the Lindencenter, is located here. In 1910 Funke was elected as a member of the Prussian provincial parliament. From 1910 to 1912 he followed Max Rötger as President of the Chamber of Commerce.

In the Protestant Church, Funke was involved in the presbyteries of the parishes of Essen-Altstadt, Rellinghausen – Heisingen and Dorstfeld.

Funke received several awards through numerous foundations and donations to charitable purposes such as schools, a hospital, a lung sanatorium and the Karl-Funke-Stiftung parish hall as well as the Carl and Katharina-Funke Foundation for the Essen Realgymnasium. In 1899 he was appointed to the Commerce Council, nine years later to the Secret Commerce Council. He received the Order of the Red Eagle III. Class.

When Carl Funke died in 1912 after an otitis media, he was buried in the family crypt of the Funke and Schürenberg families in the cemetery at Kettwiger Tor. The funeral procession on the afternoon of April 19, 1912 was followed by several thousand people, including representatives of the Ruhr industry, employees of its trade unions and high city officials. After the cemetery was closed in 1955, the common crypt was moved to the Ostfriedhof Essen.