Johann Gustav Stinnes

Johann Gustav Stinnes (born August 29, 1826 in Mülheim an der Ruhr ; † February 25, 1878 there ) was a German merchant and ship owner .

Live and act

Johann Gustav Stinnes grew up as the second son of the businessman Mathias Stinnes (1790-1845) and his wife Anna Springmann (1789-1831) in Mülheim an der Ruhr. After the father's death in 1845, his older brother Georg Mathias took over the management of the family company founded in 1808. With his death in 1853 the management of the Math. Stinnes company passed to him. Johann Gustav's time at the helm of the company was marked by climate-related difficulties. Unusually long dry periods in 1857/58 and 1862 made shipping traffic on the Rhine and Ruhr more difficult and almost brought it to a standstill. Stinnes mastered these difficult years and even further expanded his fleet after the water levels had normalized by purchasing modern paddle steamers . He managed the family business for a total of 25 years. The entrepreneurs in Mülheim an der Ruhr paid tribute to his services by electing him President of the Mülheim Chamber of Commerce in 1873 . He died of a hemorrhage in 1878 at the age of 51. After his death, his brother Hermann Hugo , the youngest son of the company founder Mathias Stinnes, took over the management of the company.

Marriage and children

On July 12, 1855, he married Auguste Perez (1828–1902), the daughter of a Mülheim doctor. The connection resulted in a total of six children:

• Mathias Franz (1856-1907)
• Fanny (1857-1883)
• Gustav (1863-1923)
• Leo (1863-1933)

Auguste (* 1859) and Hermann (* 1860) died in childhood.

literature

• German Family Archives, Volume 30. S. 97 ff.
• Herbert Sinz: 150 years of Math. Stinnes . Darmstadt, 1958.
• Raimund Le Viseur: 175 years of Stinnes. The merchants from Mülheim. A German company chronicle . Düsseldorf, 1983.