Heinrich Albrecht Rabe

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Heinrich Albrecht Rabe (* probably February 25, 1797 in Quedlinburg , † March 21, 1852 in Varel ) was a German industrialist and cotton manufacturer.

biography

Rabe came from a Quedlinburg craftsman family. His parents were the brandy distiller Johann Joachim Rabe and his wife, the pharmacist's daughter Catharina Elisabeth born. Meyer. From 1816 to 1818 he completed a dye apprenticeship in the workshop of his brother Heinrich Friedrich Rabe in Perleberg . He then went on the usual wandering of the time , which took him to Varel in 1819, where he initially worked as a journeyman . After only three years he set up as blue and Schönfärber independently and colored in its operation mainly in the Frisian Wehde in Home and handicraft manufactured screen . In the period that followed, he expanded his company and bought a number of handlooms for his own canvas production. When the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg joined the Brunswick-Hanover Tax Association in 1836 , the expanded sales area offered Rabe additional business opportunities. Protected by protective tariffs against powerful English competition, he and other textile manufacturers were now able to catch up with the English's technical lead. The plants were modernized and converted to the processing of imported cotton, which had fallen sharply in price . In 1837, together with the financially strong Varel textile wholesaler Gerhard Johann Ruschmann, he applied for a concession for a mechanical weaving and cotton spinning mill powered by steam power . This provoked the protest of some manufacturers from Zetel, who operated numerous handlooms of their own in the publishing system . Nevertheless, the Oldenburg government approved the construction of the new factory and even granted Rabe exemption from customs duties for the import of modern textile machines from Belgium .

Following the pattern of Saxon textile companies, Rabe set up the Grand Duchy's first mechanical weaving mill from 1839. The spinning mill followed the following year, the construction of which was carried out with the help of a low-interest loan from the Grand Duke. Due to a general economic upturn in Oldenburg, the company soon flourished and encouraged the establishment of further spinning and weaving mills in Varel, almost all of which were founded by former employees of Rabe. A small industrial center with a total of around 1100 factory workers developed in Varel within a few years.

In 1845 Rabe paid off his previous partner Ruschmann and took over the factory alone. When Rabe died unexpectedly in 1852, his son Johann Heinrich Rabe took over the business in 1853, which he converted into a warps spinning mill based on the English model. Soon after, he sold the company and founded new companies, first in the Westphalian town of Borghorst and then in Giebichenstein near Halle .

family

Rabe was married twice. On April 9, 1822, in Varel, he married Gesche Margarethe Klussmann's daughter, the innkeeper (approx. 1796–1829). After her death he married Almut Margarete Töpken (1808-1852) on April 7, 1831. A total of 13 children came from both marriages, of which Johann Heinrich (1832-1908) succeeded the father.

meaning

Due to its agricultural environment, the Oldenburger Land produced only a few industrialists in the 19th century. In this numerically small group, Rabe occupied an important place, because as a craftsman-entrepreneur he was able to use his ability to innovate, his technical versatility, foresight and willingness to take risks in order to become an independent entrepreneur in the early phase of industrialization. In doing so, he also gave the initial spark for the rise of the Varel industry, although this only lasted for a short time and which could no longer hold its own after the global economic crisis of 1857/59.

The Vareler entertainment newspaper called Rabe in its Nekrolog 1852 father of our factory industry .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Rabe, Heinrich Albrecht
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rabe, Heinrich Albert (different name variant)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German industrialist and cotton manufacturer
DATE OF BIRTH uncertain: February 25, 1797
PLACE OF BIRTH Quedlinburg
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 1852
Place of death Varel