Heinrich Coupienne

Heinrich Coupienne, around 1870

Heinrich Coupienne (born June 1, 1810 in Mülheim an der Ruhr ; † April 8, 1889 there ) was a German entrepreneur in the leather industry and mining .

Live and act

Heinrich Coupienne was the second son of the tannery owner Jean Baptiste Coupienne (1768–1825) and his wife Caroline Coupienne nee. Pelzer (1777-1853). After working for a few years in the company of his father and older brother Christian , he founded his own leather factory in 1838 under the company H. Coupienne . The glossy leather he produced for car tops soon met with high demand at home and abroad, thus creating the basis for the young company's rapid growth. At the beginning of the 1870s, he transferred the management of the factory to his sons Eugen and Jean Baptiste.

In addition to leather production, Heinrich Coupienne was also active in mining in the Ruhr . From 1858 to 1874 he was chairman of the mines board of the Wiesche colliery of the Mülheimer Bergwerks-Verein .

After the death of his wife Adeline in 1878, he withdrew from all business activities and spent the last years of his life in seclusion with his family.

Marriage and children

In 1839 he married Adeline von Eicken (1812–1878). The connection resulted in five children:

• Helene (1840–1917) ∞ Hugo Westermann (1831–1896)
• Eugen (1843–1907), entrepreneur, association official in the leather industry
• Adeline (1844–1925) ∞ Hermann Hugo Stinnes (1842–1887)
• Jean Baptiste (1847-1892)
• Gertraud (1848–1883) ∞ Ferdinand André

literature

• Thomas Urban: Immigrants with new ideas. The Coupienne family and the Mülheim leather trade. In: Horst A. Wessel (Ed.): Mülheim entrepreneurs. Pioneers of the economy. Business history in the city on the river since the end of the 18th century. Klartext Verlag, Essen 2006, pp. 79–87.

Other sources

• City archive Mülheim an der Ruhr, holdings 1390/2/15 (Chronicle of the Coupienne family, compiled in 1921 by Ernst Coupienne)