There had been compromises on both sides, but in the eyes of many, Hamburg's economic clout had combined with the stubborn intransigence of her senators to leave the city with a privileged status in the rapidly industrialising new Germany. Kirchenpauer had been chairman of Hamburg's since 1869, and after 1880 he took a step back from his habitual role as the senate's expert on trade and commerce, concentrating instead on transforming the city's public education provision. His contribution was recognised when the was named after him in 1914 (though it was replaced and renamed again in 1986). He also played a leading role in the creation of a precursor to the current University of Hamburg. Gustav Kirchenpauer was seated at his desk in the mayoral office on 3 March 1887 when he died. His body was buried in the Ohlsdorf Cemetery. In 1844 Gustav Kirchenpauer married Juliane Dorothea Krause (1819–1905). They married in Weißtropp near Dresden. Juliane's father, Johann Krause (1779–1829), had achieved modest notability as a theologian and merchant. Her brother, built a career as a landscape painter and travel writer. Juliane's father Johann Krause was also a younger brother to Jacob von Krause (1775-1857), husband to Kirchenpauer's aunt and the man in whose Saint Petersburg home Kirchenpauer and his brothers had grown up while their own father traveled for his business. In addition to fostering the three Kirchenpauer boys, the sons of Julia's brother, Johann Georg, Jacob von Krause and his wife Julia had also, a few years later, looked after Robert and Juliane Kruse, the children of Jacob's brother Johann. The marriage of Gustav Heinrich and Juliane Dorothea Kirchenpauer produced three recorded children: