Alexander Martin Luther

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Alexander Martin Luther (* December 27, 1809 July / 8 January  1810 greg. In Tallinn , Estonia Governorate ; † September 10 July / 22 September  1876 greg. Ibid) was a Baltic German merchant and entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship

Alexander Martin Luther was born as the son of the Baltic German businessman and Tallinn mayor Christian Wilhelm Luther senior. (1774–1841) and his wife Johanna Amalie Luther (née Gebauer, 1774–1837) were born in the capital of Estonia. His grandfather, the entrepreneur Georg Christian Luther (1717–1800), emigrated to Tallinn from Breslau in 1742 in the Russian Empire . With the trade in linen and salt as well as later wood products and building materials, the company became prosperous.

Alexander Martin Luther first attended the district school in Tallinn. He graduated from the prestigious Tallinn Governorate High School. He then worked in his father's up-and-coming company. Thanks to his economic successes, Luther was able to considerably expand the family business that bore his name from 1841. He bought cheap storage land near the Tallinn port and at the same time opened up contacts abroad for operations.

In 1870 Alexander Martin Luther founded their own company together with the businessman Markel Makarov . It mainly traded in building materials and wood. This also included roof shingles , which Luther imported from Finland , as an innovation on the Estonian market . They became a coveted commodity. In 1877, one year after his death, a modern sawmill was inaugurated in the Tallinn district of Veerenni , which cut the shingles in Estonia itself.

From 1848 Alexander Martin Luther was a senior man in the Tallinn Great Guild. Four years later he became its head. Luther was councilor from 1848 to 1864, and from 1855 to 1864 chamberlain of Tallinn. From 1864 to 1875 he held the office of mayor. Luther was also the head of the Nikolaikirche .

Luther's sons Christian Wilhelm Luther (1857–1914) and Carl Wilhelm Luther (1859–1903) successfully continued their father's business. They named the furniture factory founded in 1880 after him AM Luther .

Private life

Alexander Martin Luther was married three times. His first wife, whom he married in January 1836, was his cousin Louise Luther, b. Gebauer, (1812-1844). She died young. The marriage produced a son and a daughter. The son Ferdinand Justius Luther (1838-1910) embarked on a theological career and was pastor of Emmaste , Käina and the congregation of the Tallinn Nikolaikirche .

In his second marriage from 1846 he was with Therese Luther, geb. Berg, (1805-1852) married. She gave birth to three daughters and a son.

Luther concluded his third marriage in September 1855 with Henriette Caroline Luther, b. Steding, (1825-1905). Three sons were born in the marriage: the entrepreneurs Christian Wilhelm Luther (1857–1914) and Carl Wilhelm Luther (1859–1903) and the theologian Johannes Heinrich Luther (1861–1932). The latter became pastor in Kadrina , Narva and Karkeln (today Mysovka in Kaliningrad Oblast ).

literature

  • Eesti elulood. Tallinn: Eesti entsüklopeediakirjastus 2000 (= Eesti entsüklopeedia 14) ISBN 9985-70-064-3 , p. 262.
  • Genealogia Lutherorum rediviva, or, News about the Luther Family in Estonia and Russia. Total from Robert Luther; supplemented and annotated by Carl Russwurm. Reval 1883.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. eha.ee: Perekond Luther - EAA.3233
  2. eha.ee: Perekond Luther - EAA.3233
  3. ap3.ee
  4. ^ Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Alexander Martin Luther. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital