Anton Tiberius Kliegl (September 15, 1872 – May 19, 1927) was a German–American businessman and inventor.
Life and work
Kliegl was one of eight children of the spa musician Adam Tiberius Kliegl and his wife Therese Ströhlein. Anton Kliegl's grandfather Johann Kliegl came with his orchestra from Bohemia to Bad Kissingen in 1836, where he founded the Kurorchester Bad Kissingen ("Bad Kissingen Spa Orchestra") in 1837.
In 1893, Anton Kliegl, then 21 years old and trained as a plumber, followed his elder brother Johann (1869–1959) to New York City, United States. Johann had emigrated earlier, in 1888. There they both worked in a factory which manufactured electric arc lamps. They bought the factory in 1896, and renamed it as their own company, Kliegl Brothers Universal Electric Stage Lighting Company. The company specialized in stage technology and stage effects, which they themselves designed. The company was one of the first of its kind.
On December 27, 1902, Kliegl married Leopoldine Herbig. They had no children.
Kliegl gave generous donations to his home town of Bad Kissingen – the Kliegl children's park, the Anton Kliegl Elementary School, feeding the poor, a nursery, a children's recreation center, and the interior of the council hall in the Old Town Hall benefited from his generosity.
Bad Kissingen has a Kliegl-Platz ("Kliegl Square"). It was redesigned in 2009, and a Kliegl-Brunnen ("Kliegl Fountain") was added.
The Anton Kliegl Elementary School (Anton Kliegl Middle School since 2010) still exists in Bad Kissingen.
The city of Bad Kissingen awarded Kliegl an honorary citizenship in 1922.
References
Wulz, Gerhard (2001). Der Kapellenfriedhof in Bad Kissingen. Ein Führer mit Kurzbiografien [The Chapel Cemetery in Bad Kissingen. A guide with short biographies] (in German). Verlag Stadt Bad Kissingen. ISBN3-934912-04-4.