Christian Wilhelm Luther

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Christian Wilhelm Luther (* January 26 jul. / 7. February  1857 greg. In Tallinn ; †  22. January 1914 in Heidelberg ) was a Baltic German industrialists.

Life and Entrepreneurship

Christian Wilhelm Luther was born as the son of the Baltic German businessman, entrepreneur and councilor Alexander Martin Luther (1810–1876) in the Estonian capital Tallinn (German Reval ). Together with the businessman Markel Makarov, his father had achieved great prosperity through trading in building materials and wood. In particular, the import of roof shingles from Finland opened up new markets for the company in the Baltic States .

Christian Wilhelm Luther attended the Gouvernements-Gymnasium in Tallinn until 1873 . He received extensive commercial training from his parents in his own company in Tallinn and at Förster, Ruttmann & Co. and Mayer & Co. Luther attended the Petri-Pauli School in Moscow and worked at Cornelius & Co. In London , he was a volunteer Linck, Moeller & Co. His brother Carl Wilhelm Luther (1859–1903) became an engineer, his brother Johannes Heinrich Luther (1861–1932) embarked on a theological career.

Christian Wilhelm Luther continued the flourishing company after the death of his father in 1876. As early as 1877 he was able to inaugurate a modern sawmill in the Tallinn district of Veerenni , cut the shingles himself and thus reduced the dependence on Finnish imports.

The former factory building of the furniture company AM Luther in Tallinn's Veerenni district

From 1880, the AM Luther company, named after Christian Wilhelm's father, specialized in furniture production. In 1883 Luther founded the first mechanized wood processing company in Tallinn. In 1887 production was relocated to a cheaper location in the Estonian capital. Christian Wilhelm Luther was its managing director, his younger brother, the engineer and mechanical engineer Carl Wilhelm Luther (1859–1903), the technical director.

From 1884 the company brought veneer furniture onto the market, a novelty in the Russian Empire at that time. Christian Wilhelm Luther took over the technology from America. AM Luther developed its own special machines for veneer production. The flourishing company expanded rapidly in the Baltic States. It also had its own power plant, a drying plant for wood, sawmills and extensive factory buildings for the mass production of office and household furniture.

The invention and patenting of waterproof veneer glue by a cousin of the Luther brothers gave the company further impetus. The moisture-proof veneer furniture was a box-office hit. From now on, the company also manufactured suitcases, hat boxes, buckets and other everyday objects, and later also aircraft, car and railroad parts. The construction of railway lines in Estonia and the connection to the Russian and Finnish railway networks did the rest for economic success.

For the English export market, she produced boxes for transporting tea. The export company Venesta (for "Veneer + Estonia") was founded in London in 1897 and had the sole right to distribute the products in the British Empire.

In 1898, AM Luther was converted into a stock corporation. Christian Wilhelm Luther was its director until his death in 1914. The brother Carl Wilhelm was employed there as the technical manager.

In addition, the two brothers founded the Tallinn joint stock company Volta , of which he was director. The company specialized in the manufacture of electric motors and generators for the Russian market.

Christian Wilhelm Luther died in 1914 in Baden Heidelberg. His son Martin Christian Luther (1883–1963) successfully continued the company. He became one of the most influential Estonian entrepreneurs and politicians during World War I and in the Republic of Estonia during the interwar period .

Social Commitment

From 1903 Luther was an honorary peace judge . He was also president of the factory affairs section of the Reval Exchange Committee. From 1893 he was a deputy member and from 1907 president of the convent of St. Nikolai Church . From 1900 Luther was Honorary Consul of Austria-Hungary . He was the brother of the Black Head and an elder of the Great Guild. From 1906 he was president of the Manufacturers' Association, presiding director of the loan association of real estate owners Revals. In 1912 he became a member of the Russian Manufactory Council. France awarded him the title Officier de l'instruction publique .

Private life

In July 1882 Christian Wilhelm Luther married Helen (Nelly) Greiffenhagen in London .

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. ↑ Fondiloend EAA.3233 accessed on May 26, 2018
  2. ↑ Student directory of the Revalsche Gouvernements-Gymnasium 1805-1890. Edited by Heinrich Hradetzky. Reval 1931
  3. ^ A b Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Christian Wilhelm Luther. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
personal data
SURNAME Luther, Christian Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1857
PLACE OF BIRTH Tallinn
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1914
Place of death Heidelberg