Josef Vitus mug

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Josephus (Josef) Vitus Becher (born September 17, 1769 in Karlsbad , Bohemia ; † July 27, 1840 ibid) was a merchant, pharmacist and first producer of the "Karlsbader Becherbitter", since 1997 called Becherovka .

origin

The Becher family had been in Karlsbad since 1530 , at that time the property of Elbogen Castle in western Bohemia , as a drug manufacturer and drug dealer, whose most successful product was the "Karlsbader Becherbitter".

Known family members

Georg Becher (1600–1692) pharmacist, 1634 councilor and senator, 1638–1672 mayor of Karlsbad; David Becher (1725–1792), (son of the merchant Leopold Becher), separated the trade product Carlsbad sparkling salt from the spring water of the Carlsbad "Sprudels" by distillation in the middle of the 18th century and in 1772 published the text "Neue Abhandlungen vom Carlsbade" in three volumes out; Andreas Wenzel Becher (1649–1741), a graduate of the Latin school in Eger, master's degree in Prague, took over the pharmacy “Zum Weißen Adler” in 1678 and was mayor of Carlsbad from 1693–1713; Franz Xaver Becher (1765–1873), wholesale merchant and owner of a trading house founded in Pilsen; Siegfried Becher (1806–1873), national economist and Ministerialrat in Vienna and the politician Walter Becher (1912–2005), who represented the Sudeten German Landsmannschaft as spokesman for years .

Life

Joseph Becher was the son of the citizen, businessman and councilor (community elder) Johann Wenzel Becher and his wife Regina, née. Zankl and was baptized Catholic on September 17, 1769, the day of his birth, in the Church of St. Maria Magdalena in Karlsbad.

His first marriage was in Karlsbad on September 23, 1794, Josepha (* 1772), daughter of the citizen and Perouquer Franz Dietel from Karlsbad. His second marriage was in Schlaggenwald on June 5, 1810, Barbara Haas, * 1784, daughter of the KuK mountain master Johann Haas in Schlaggenwald and Maria Anna, née. Blessed.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Becher began producing a bitter liqueur, a greenish yellow alcohol-spice mixture in the up-and-coming spa town of Karlsbad, which became a sales success and was sold in flattened, green bottles. This "Becherbitter" was skilfully brought onto the market, received numerous prizes and in 1900 a first prize at the World Exhibition in Paris. There were always imitators of this liqueur and disputes over the exact recipe. In 1901 "Karlsbader Becherbitter" was registered in Eger in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy as a protected brand name at the Chamber of Commerce and the company was included in the commercial register.

The liqueur , first produced according to a secret recipe by Josef Vitus Becher, has been called "English bitter" since 1807, later called "Karlsbader Becherbitter". Joseph Becher died of paralysis on July 27, 1840 in Karlsbad No. 37 . In 1841 Josef Becher's son from his second marriage, Johann Becher (born April 5, 1813, † April 1, 1896, in Czech Jan Becher) took over production. In 1867 he had the manufacturing operations enlarged, organized the rapidly increasing export of the “Karlsbader Becherbitter” and, shortly before his death in 1896, was appointed supplier to the imperial and royal court .

The heirs of the company

The granddaughter Hedda Baier-Becher, heiress of the company in Karlsbad , was expropriated by the Beneš decrees of Czechoslovakia after the end of the Second World War in May 1945 , went with her family to Cologne in the Federal Republic of Germany as a displaced person and founded the original recipe of the Becherbitter the company "Johann Becher OHG Likörfabrik". In Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia, the production of the liqueur came to a halt, but it was in 1997, after the establishment of the Czech Republic enabled as a limited company again, the bitter herb liqueur is since then under the name Becherovka made. A museum in Karlovy Vary shows memorabilia from the Becher family.

literature

  • Bohemia Yearbook of the Collegium Carolinum (Institute) , 12, Munich 1973
  • Karl Ludwig: History of the Becher family in Karlsbad, 1923. Note: Dr. Karl Ludwig (1868–1931) was an archivist for the city of Karlsbad
  • The Big Industry of Austria 3, 1908
  • Josef Weinmann: Egerländer Biographical Lexicon with selected persons from the former government district of Eger, Volume I, Männedorf / ZH, 1985, name bearers Becher from Karlsbad, pages 66 and 68
  • Biographical Lexicon for the History of the Bohemian Lands, Volume I, edited on behalf of the Collegium Carolinum (Institute) , by Heribert Sturm , R.Oldenbourg Verlag Munich Vienna 1979, page 64, ISBN 3 486 49491 0

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Baptismal register Karlsbad 1743–1769, fol. 191: born on September 17th, 1769 and baptized on the same day, Josephus Vitus, son of Mr. Johannes Wenzel Becher, citizen and merchant and Rosina, born. Quarrel
  2. ↑ The couple married on September 28, 1761 in Karlsbad, the bride Anna Rosina Zanckl was the daughter of the deceased citizen of Karlsbad, Andreas Zanckl.
  3. ↑ Karlsbad death register 1835–1862, fol. 57 rear
  4. ^ Baptismal register Karlsbad 1808–1829, fol. 96, born as Johann Nepomuk Augustin Becher in Karlsbad No. 37
personal data
SURNAME Mug, Josef Vitus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mug, Josephus Vitus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pharmacist and first producer of the "Karlsbader Becherbitter"
DATE OF BIRTH September 17, 1769
PLACE OF BIRTH Carlsbad , Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 1840
Place of death Carlsbad , Bohemia