Johann Plischke

Johann Plischke (* around 1810 ; † 1892 in Freudenthal ) was a textile industrialist from Austrian Silesia in the 19th century .

biography

According to documents, the ancestors of the Plischke family came from Engelsberg in Austrian Silesia and belonged to the working class. Peregrin Plischke learned his trade in a simple, small weaver's workshop in Engelsberg around 1780 and was one of the poorest of the linen weavers, who were economically very poor at the time.

Under such circumstances, Johann Plischke, son of Peregrin Plischke, started as an apprentice to a weaver in Engelsberg and stayed there until 1837 as a journeyman under the poorest conditions. On free Sundays, he still sold on the open stall on Freudenthal's Sauerbrunn town square in order to increase his income.

In 1838 he founded his own business in Freudenthal. With the support of his wife Anna, Plischke began producing smooth canvases and damask linen goods on his own account and managed to employ Weber not only in the city but in the surrounding villages . The products found good sales in the big markets of Vienna , Brno , Pest , Prague and Pilsen . Due to her influence, his wife Anna had the largest share in the rapid rise of the business.

Johann Plischke was one of the first in the district to consolidate the reputation of damask weaving through the high quality of the products, designs and pure bleach . Plischke was able to hold its own against the competition and received the first awards at the First General German Industrial Exhibition in Munich in 1854 and at the World Exhibition in London in 1862 .

The number of workers grew from year to year until 1859, from where until 1866 business was paralyzed by the adverse consequences of the war years and the associated political turmoil, and during which time no significant progress in the turnover of goods could be achieved.

In 1867 Johann Plischke took his two sons Alois and Heinrich Plischke on as public partners in the company, which was now called " Johann Plischke & Sons ". In this year the company also received the first award for purity and impeccable work of its linen trade at the Paris World Exhibition in 1867 . In 1872 Johann Plischke received the proper state license for the factory with the authorization to use the imperial eagle and the title " kk privilegirt ".

Encouraged by the general recognition and the increasing importance of mechanical linen weaving in England and Germany, Johann Plischke decided in 1872 to use the water power on his property and his linen yarn bleaching facility in Altstadt near Freudenthal to run a small mechanical weaving mill . In a short time, the necessary building structure was listed. Presumably because of the business crisis of 1873, the general economic depression and the associated decline in sales, these plans were abandoned after the completion of the Plischke building.

The Vienna World Exhibition in 1873 again brought the company the most honorable award for its products and proved that the factory met the highest demands placed on the linen industry in terms of versatility and excellence.

In the same year Alois and Heinrich Plischke recognized the possibility of exporting to America . The company became the first in the country to start producing linen tablecloths , towels , etc. for America , and which was particularly authoritative for the export of colored table damasks for all weaving districts at home and abroad. All of the products were brought to the American market as Austrian products and generated large sales.

The number of looms increased in proportion with the increase in exports, and the turnover of goods became very significant.

The company continued to grow until 1890. In the same year the founder Johann Plischke left the company, his two sons became successors. Johann Plischke celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with his wife Anna in 1888. He died in Freudenthal in 1892 at the age of 82.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Johann Plischke & Sons . In: Presented by the industrialists of Austria under the high protectorate of His K. and K. Highness of the Most Serene Archduke Franz Ferdinand (ed.): Die Gross-Industrie Oesterreichs. Festival ceremony for the glorious fiftieth anniversary of the reign of His Majesty the Emperor Franz Josef I. Volume 4 . Leopold Weiss, Vienna 1898, p. 329-331 .