David Vonwiller

David Vonwiller

David Vonwiller (born September 29, 1794 in St. Gallen , † April 18, 1856 in Naples ) was a Swiss businessman and industrialist . He founded a group of companies in the textile sector, which made him the most important industrial pioneer of his time in southern Italy .

Life

Cimitero degli Inglesi

David Vonwiller grew up in modest circumstances. At the age of 14 he did an apprenticeship in the St. Gallen muslin trading house Mittelholzer & Züblin. From 1815 he traveled to southern Italy for his employer to import cotton yarns and fabrics. Together with Friedrich Züblin , he founded the trading company Züblin & Vonwiller in Naples in 1824, which was later renamed Vonwiller & C. In addition to importing, he expanded the business areas of his company to include banking and the production and distribution of Italian cotton products. Vonwiller was involved in a large number of company foundations. In 1830 he built a spinning mill in Fratte di Salerno , later a weaving mill , a dye works and a calico printing works . The company Schlaepfer Wenner & C. emerged from this industrial complex in 1835. In the same year he was involved in founding the spinning mill called Escher & C. Further production facilities were built in Castellammare di Stabia , Angri and Bari .

In the 1840s, his group of companies produced two thirds of the textile needs of the Kingdom of Naples .

In 1823 he married Maria Carolina Clara Breglia. Vonwiller died on April 18, 1856 and was buried in the Cimitero degli Inglesi (Cemetery of the English) in Naples.

literature

• G. Wenner, "David Vonwiller", in Schweizer Pioneers der Wirtschaft und Technik 9, 1959, 43–78
• Hermann Wartmann:  Vonwiller, David . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, p. 297 f.

Web links

• Peter Müller: Vonwiller, David. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Portrait of David Vonwiller on staatsarchiv.sg.ch