Auguste Peltzer

Guillaume Auguste Peltzer (born August 18, 1831 in Verviers , † March 20, 1893 ibid) was a Belgian cloth manufacturer and politician.

Live and act

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  Peltzer cloth factory in Verviers, before 1890

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  Former Cloth manufacturer Peltzer, Verviers (2005)

Auguste Peltzer was the son of the cloth manufacturer Henri Édouard Peltzer (1797–1866) and Johannetta Philippine Emma Manskopf (1805–1890) and brother of Paul Nicolas Édouard Peltzer .

After completing his specialist training at the “Central School for Commerce and Industry” (“École centrale de commerce et d'industrie”) in Brussels and following the death of his father in 1866, Auguste Peltzer and his brother Paul Nicolas Édouard inherited their father's “cloth factory Peltzer ", Formerly" Lieutenant & Peltzer ". The factory, which specializes in the production of woolen fabrics and leather, had already been founded in Verviers by his grandfather Johann Heinrich Peltzer (1763–1809), who came from the Stolberg line of the Protestant copper master family Peltzer , and was now continued as " Peltzer & Fils ". Auguste's eldest brother, Philippe Henri Peltzer (1828–1902), on the other hand, concentrated on the branches and wholesale trade abroad, especially in Buenos Aires and Brussels.

While his brother and co-partner Édouard mainly held the tasks of a technical director, Auguste Peltzer, as administrative director, carried out more general entrepreneurial tasks. To this end, he undertook numerous trips abroad to international trading partners and to his branch in Buenos Aires and traveled regularly to the wool auction market in London . One of his first measures at the end of the 1860s was the takeover of "Spinnerei Peters", which was continued as "Peltzer & Fils", and the establishment of a sheepskin dyeing factory under the name "Peltzer & Cie.", Both of which are only about 15 kilometers away distant town of Eupen , which was assigned to the Prussian state together with the district of Eupen in 1815 .

After a change from the previously common production of carded yarn products to cloth made from worsted yarn took place in many countries in the middle of the 19th century, in 1876 ​​Peltzer saw the need to expand his company in Verviers to include a worsted yarn mill. The new work area, initially equipped with 5000 spindles, grew to 15,000 spindles over the next few years. For this success, “Peltzer & Fils” received in 1879 the “Le Prix Gouvy et Deheselle” endowed with 6,000 Belgian francs from the “Industrie- und Handelsgesellschaft Verviers” (“Société industrial et commerciale de Verviers”), which was awarded in 1863 by his Father was co-founded. Peltzer donated this amount to a foundation for the benefit of deserving students of the communal community schools, which was confirmed by royal decree on January 18, 1881.

Peltzer & Fils, Czestochowa

Peltzer also endeavored to support his suppliers if necessary and therefore campaigned, among other things, for the preservation of the Bomerson "Délainage" plant in Paris , which was about to close , where the sheep's wool was separated from the leather without the leather itself to damage. For this, Peltzer and his partner Charles Centner received another honor with the "Prix Gouvy et Deheselle" in 1884. Finally, on his initiative, the “Peltzer & Fils” branch in Czestochowa (Poland; at that time Russia) was set up as the last step in his expansion policy.

In addition to his professional commitment, Peltzer was politically active and was initially elected to the town council of Verviers from 1864 to 1887. In addition, he sat from 1871 to 1874 for the Liberal Party of Belgium (Parti libéral, which became the Mouvement Réformateur in 1961 ) in the Provincial Council of the Province of Liège and represented the Verviers district as a senator in the Belgian Senate from 1874 until his death . As a politician, he campaigned for international free trade as well as for social progress and, among other things, supported the establishment of schools and libraries, advocated the expansion of compulsory military service and promoted the introduction of general gymnastics.

On May 20, 1893, Peltzer died as a result of a serious accident.

Auguste Peltzer was married to Lucie Cornélie Bacot (1839–1872), with whom he had sons Paul (1859–1920), Georges (1861–1932), Auguste Henri Germain (1865–1936) and René (1869–1947) ) got. After the death of his wife he married Hélène Gay (1847-1909), who gave birth to his daughters Georgina Mathilde Lucine (1876-1963) and Lucie Céline Germaine (1878-1976), who later married the politician Charles Graux .

All four sons of Auguste Peltzer joined the family company together with his nephew and son of his brother Paul Henri Édouard, Édouard Peltzer , which was converted into a public limited company under Belgian law (Société Anonyme / SA) in 1931 . Augustes grandson André Peltzer (1882–1966) and great-grandson Georges Peltzer (* 1924) were the last of the family to work for the company, which was taken over in 1965 by the Iwan Simonis company with a focus on exclusive bed linen and precious pool towels. André Peltzer was previously President of the Belgian Central Wool Committee, was knighted in 1957 and received the title of baron. Georges Peltzer was the last chairman of the board of directors of the “Peltzer et Fils” holding and in 2001 was made an honorary citizen of Verviers.

In the same way, all four sons and their cousin bought the 100 hectare property “Domaine de Nivezé” in 1896, which had previously belonged to the industrialist Edmond Joseph Adolphe Simonis. It was divided into five parcels, of which Paul Peltzer received "Le Nivezé Farm", George Peltzer "Le Vieux-Nivezé", Auguste Henri La Fraineuse and René "Le Haut-Neubois" and Édouard Peltzer "Le Neubois" where they received then representative mansions built, some in both the First and the Second world war played an important role as a shelter, bases and command centers.

literature

• Paul Léon: Peltzer, Auguste , in: Biographie Nationale ; Académie Royal des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, Volume 42, 1981, Column 609–615 ( PDF )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Norbert Gilson: History of the textile industry in the Verviers area, Eupen, Aachen , Rheinisches Industriemuseum 1997, p. 36/37 ( PDF )
2. ^ André Peltzer , in: Porquoi Pas of April 13, 1934
3. ↑ Heinz Godesar: Five personalities made honorary citizens , in Grenz-Echo of December 6, 2001
4. ↑ Les châteaux Peltzer de Nivezé , information on sparealites.be