Erdwin Amsinck

Erdwin Amsinck

Ludwig Erdwin Amsinck , also called LE Amsinck (* February 27, 1826 in Hamburg ; † February 13, 1897 ibid) was a German-American businessman, banker , patron and co-founder of Commerzbank .

Life

Erdwin Amsinck came from the resident since the 16th century in Hamburg Hanseatic family Amsinck , and was the son of the merchant John Amsinck and Emilie born Goßler . It was named after Ludwig Erdwin Seyler (called Ludwig), his mother's uncle.

His father was the sole owner of the Johannes Schuback & Sons company , which was mainly engaged in trade with Portugal and its colonies. Since his older brothers Wilhelm and Heinrich were already working in their father's company, Erdwin went to New York via England, France and Portugal after completing a commercial apprenticeship, where he initially worked in a friendly company. In 1850 he founded his own trading company LE Amsinck , which was initially renamed LE Amsinck & Co. after the entry of his brother Gustav Amsinck and was later run by him alone as G. Amsinck & Co. In addition to the import and export business, the Amsinck brothers also worked as merchant bankers and were among the co-founders of today's Commerzbank .

Erdwin Amsinck returned to Hamburg in 1874 and from then on lived as a privateer. On numerous trips to France and Italy, Russia, Egypt, Palestine and Turkey, he collected a large number of art objects, which he later donated to the Museum für Völkerkunde Hamburg . He bequeathed other collections to the Hamburger Kunsthalle and the later Museum of Hamburg History .

Since his marriage remained childless, after the death of his widow in 1921, his entire fortune was transferred to the non-profit Erdwin Amsinck Foundation , which supports young artists, especially painters, to this day.

literature

• Renate Hauschild-Thiessen: Amsinck, Erdwin . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 2 . Christians, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-7672-1366-4 , pp. 27-28 .