Tietz department store (Stralsund)

The Tietz family of merchants shaped the development of the department store industry in Germany with their ideas and innovations. On Aug. 14, 1879, Leonhard Tietz opened a store for woolen goods at Ossenreyerstrasse 31 in Stralsund. With Sally and Max Baumann, the brothers of Leonhard's wife Flora, he expanded into western Germany. In 1902 Leonhard opened a modern department store at Ossenreyerstrasse 19. He died on 14.11.1914 at the age of 65. Alfred Leonhard Tietz, his eldest son, took over Leonhard Tietz AG in 1919, and in March 1939 he formed an executive and supervisory board. However, he soon withdrew from the board. In July 1933, the AG was renamed "Westdeutsche Kaufhof AG ". In 1934, Alfred Leonhard Tietz was forced by pressure from the National Socialists to sell his shares. A similar fate befell other members of the family. They had to give up their shares in Hermann Tietz OHG to "Hertie Kaufhaus-Beteiligungs-Gesellschaft m.b.H.". Until the closure of the Hertie Group in 2009, the company name "Hertie" formed from the initial letters pointed to Hermann Tietz and the role of the Jewish merchant family.