Rhenish-West India Company
The Rheinisch-Westindische Kompagnie was a Rhenish trading company for overseas trade . Their seat was in Elberfeld .
The company was founded in March 1821 "for the purpose of exporting patriotic art and natural products (...) to the West Indies, North and South America or other parts of the world". It was a reaction to the difficult economic situation that had arisen in the Bergisches Land, in particular due to the continental blockade that lasted until 1813 . With its establishment, the difficulties in the European markets were to be compensated by the revival of overseas business and markets lost to the English were to be regained.
The decisive initiative for founding the company, which was only the third stock corporation founded in Prussia , came from Johann Jacob Aders , who propagated the idea of the company and recruited allies over many years of work. Even after its establishment until his death in 1825, he was the defining personality of society. The founding meeting on March 8, 1821, led by Johann Rütger Brüning and recorded by Heinrich Kamp , brought together 50 shareholders from Elberfeld, Barmen , Schwelm , Wald , Remscheid , Ronsdorf , Rheydt , Gladbach , Hagen and Langenberg . From 1821 the wine and spirits dealer Johann Gottfried Böker acted as the representative of the interests of the trading company in the United States . In 1822 the United States sent him to Prussia as US consul for the Rhine Province and Westphalia.
Important exporting countries were, of varying importance, Haiti , Mexico , Argentina , Chile , Peru and Brazil . In terms of quantities, products made of linen, thread, wool, silk and half silk were in the foreground of the exported goods, followed by metal products.
From 1826 the company's business ran into difficulties and sales fell continuously. Reasons for this were, besides mistakes in the management, the political conflicts in South America and the intensifying competitive situation in many markets. Liquidation was initiated in 1832 and lasted until 1843, the year of the last general assembly.
Despite its comparatively short duration, the Rheinisch-Westindische Kompagnie, according to Hans-Joachim Oehm, “contributed significantly to the development of German overseas trade in the first half of the 19th century”.
literature
- Hans-Joachim Oehm: The Rheinisch-Westindische Kompagnie. Ph. CW Schmidt, Neustadt / Aisch 1968 ( Bergische Forschungen 7, ISSN 0405-4520 ).
- Rheinisch-Westindische Compagnie: donated to Elberfeld in March 1821; its origin, purpose and consequences , Elberfeld 1821, BSB Bavarian State Library digital
- Negotiations of the Association for the Promotion of Industry in Prussia , Volume 4, pp. 44 ff., Google Books