Friedrich Witte (entrepreneur)
Friedrich Martin Sigismund Carl Witte (born February 19, 1829 in Rostock ; † July 31, 1893 in Rostock-Warnemünde ) was a German pharmacist , manufacturer and politician ( NLP , LV , DFP ).
Life
Friedrich Witte graduated from high school in Rostock and went to Berlin in 1845 to begin an apprenticeship as a pharmacist, which was shortened by six months due to his good knowledge. He then worked as an assistant in pharmacies in Stettin and Aachen , before studying one semester in Berlin and three in Rostock. In 1853 he received his doctorate .
Back in Rostock he took over the deer pharmacy from his father, to which he joined a wholesale business for drugs and chemicals in 1856. In 1862 he sold it and with the proceeds he founded a chemical factory at Schnickmannstrasse 14 ("Fr.Witte.Chemische Fabriken"). In 1871 caffeine was obtained in crystalline form from tea dust. Together with the first chemist, Carl Großschopf (1835–1908), who came from Güstrow , he developed a number of production processes for the production of particularly pure pepsins , rennet powder , peptone , pancreatin and papain in the following years . Witte's peptone even achieved world renown: Robert Koch used it as a nutrient medium for Robert Koch's bacteriological research. Witte was able to appear very successfully with it at the 1873 World's Fair in Chicago . Here he was able to close numerous deals with caffeine and pepsin products. This ultimately led to Witte becoming the world market leader for these products. Pharmaceuticals produced in Witte's factory were exported worldwide, mainly to the USA and Russia.
In addition to his work as a scientist and entrepreneur, Friedrich Witte was a member of the Rostock magistrate from 1863 to 1885 and a member of the Reichstag from 1878 to 1891 . On February 6, 1891, he resigned from the Reichstag. As a politician, he devoted himself to trade policy and was co-founder and chairman of the Mecklenburg Trade Association. He had a long friendship with Theodor Fontane . Witte met Fontane in 1849 in the Polish Pharmacy (later Dorotheenstädtische Apotheke) in Berlin. Both worked there as temporary workers, and due to their common interest in literature, an intensive exchange of ideas by letter later developed. During his apprenticeship in Berlin, Witte also belonged to the tunnel over the Spree . The Witte and Fontane families remained closely linked. Fontane's daughter Martha was especially friends with the oldest daughter of the Witte family, Lise, and often spent several months in the Witte family.
Friedrich Witte's grave is located in the former Rostock cemetery, today's Lindenpark near the Kräwtweg. After its renovation and the addition of the missing portrait relief, the obelisk was consecrated with a small memorial service on October 25, 2011. This was made possible by a generous donation of the annual cost of the Rostock eV merchant association. The originally existing relief medallion came from the American sculptor Frederick Roth (1872–1944), a brother of Witte's daughter-in-law, the women's rights activist Laura Witte . The new relief is a work by the sculptor Wolfgang Friedrich .
Of the former factory buildings in Schnickmannstrasse, only a granary has been preserved. This now houses a café and restaurant, with apartments and offices in the upper part.
family
Friedrich Witte was married to Anna Schacht (1834–1910), a daughter of his Berlin teacher, from November 7, 1854. The marriage had four children: Elise (1858–1923), Friedrich Carl (1864–1938), Annemarie (1870–1947) and Richard (1875–1921). Laura Witte was the wife of his son Friedrich Carl. His son, the politician Siegfried Witte (1897–1961), and Annemarie's daughter, the politician Annemarie von Harlem (1894–1983) also became known.
literature
- Birgit Jürgens: Friedrich Witte - Mecklenburg and world citizen, February 19, 1829 to July 31, 1893: a successful chemist, entrepreneur and politician of his time. ß Verlag & Medien, Rostock 2014, ISBN 978-3-940835-04-8 (first edition: Norddeutscher Hochschulschriften-Verlag, Rostock 1993, ISBN 3-929544-14-8 ).
- Irene Lauterbach, Christoph Friedrich , Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke (eds.). Friedrich Witte (1829 - 1893): pharmacist, pharmaceutical entrepreneur and member of the Reichstag, taking into account his diaries. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-8047-2905-6 .
- Grete Grewolls: Who was who in Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania. The dictionary of persons . Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 2011, ISBN 978-3-356-01301-6 , p. 10959 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Georg Schwedt: The poet Theodor Fontane as a first-class pharmacist. ISBN 978-3-748-16222-3 , pp. 90 ff. ( Limited preview in the Google book search).
- ^ Fritz Specht, Paul Schwabe: The Reichstag elections from 1867 to 1903. Statistics of the Reichstag elections together with the programs of the parties and a list of the elected representatives. 2nd Edition. Carl Heymann Verlag, Berlin 1904, p. 282.
- ↑ Entrepreneur biographies on the private website www.knerger.de
- ^ Family sheet Friedrich Witte , Portal Genealogy.net
Web links
- Friedrich Witte in the database of members of the Reichstag
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Witte, Friedrich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Witte, Friedrich Martin Sigismund Carl (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German pharmacist, manufacturer and politician (DFP), MdR |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 19, 1829 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rostock |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 31, 1893 |
| Place of death | Rostock-Warnemünde |