Karl von Offermann (textile entrepreneur, 1820)

Karl von Offermann (born December 18, 1820 in Brno , Moravia , † September 28, 1894 there ) was an Austrian textile entrepreneur.

biography

Karl Ritter von Offermann was the eldest son of the Brno textile manufacturer Karl Offermann , who was raised to the Austrian hereditary knighthood in 1863, and his wife Caroline, née Freiin von Fries. His brother was Theodor von Offermann .

After training in his father's company, Offermann expanded his knowledge of cloth manufacturing in Saxony, Belgium and England. In 1842 he joined his father's cloth factory. He looked for new sales markets at international exhibitions and presented the company a. a. 1851 on the first World Expo in London , in 1854 on the German First General Industrial Exhibition in Munich and in 1855, 1862, 1873 and 1878 at the world exhibitions in Paris , London and Vienna , where he each also belonged to the jury. At the 1862 exhibition, Offermann was also president of the jury for the textile industry. After his father's death, he became head of the company.

Offermann reoriented the company primarily towards the export of cloths for military use. In the period between 1869 and 1877, he provided uniforms to the armies of Serbia and Romania . He concluded further supply contracts for uniforms with Turkey , Greece and Egypt . As a result, his company developed into the largest uniform manufacturer in Austria-Hungary .

In 1871 Offermann was elected vice-president of the Brno Chamber of Commerce and Industry . He was also part of the Brno City Council. In 1874 Offermann was raised to the Austrian hereditary baron status.

Karl Freiherr von Offermann is the father of Karl , Alfred and Edwin Freiherr von Offermann.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Offermann, Karl (in his father's article) . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 21st part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1870, p. 43 f. ( Digitized version ).
• P. Schmidtbauer:  Offermann, Karl von. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 7, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1978, ISBN 3-7001-0187-2 , p. 216.