Victor Kriegshaber

(1859 – 1934)

Born in Louisville, Kriegshaber attended the Hailsman German-English Academy, the University Preparatory at Frankfort-on-the-Main, and the University at Darmstadt, Germany, the latter of which awarded him a degree in civil engineering. Kriegshaber began his career with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad as an assistant engineer and draughtsman where he helped build the line to Jellico, Tennessee.

Kriegshaber moved to Atlanta in 1889 to work for the Central of Georgia Railway. After ten years, he became a dealer and then a manufacturer of building supplies. He was president of the Atlanta Terra Cotta Company and director of the Atlanta Art Glass Company. Kriegshaber was a director of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and in 1914, joined the committee that spearheaded the development of the Southeastern Fair at Lakewood. In 1916, he became president of the Chamber of Commerce. During his first term, he started publication of the City Builder.

Kriegshaber occupied positions of leadership within a variety of social and economic associations in Atlanta, including vice president for Georgia of the National Builders’ Supply Association, director of the Associated Charities, director of the local council of the Boy Scouts of America, president of the Federation of Jewish Charities and of the Jewish Educational Alliance, trustee of the Hebrew Orphans Home, and trustee of The Temple.

He was instrumental in establishing the city’s first public playgrounds for children and was later vice president of the Playground Association of America. He once said, “Educational and moral development will always produce the highest standard and type of citizenship. Our welfare lies along these fundamental principles, all else will naturally follow.” Kriegshaber was also influential in the Atlanta’s cultural scene, and served on the executive committee of the Atlanta Music Festival Association from its founding in 1909 and helped establish the Atlanta Philharmonic Society. He held executive leadership positions within both organizations until his death in 1934.