Richard Hüttig (entrepreneur)

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Franz Richard Hüttig (born September 10, 1827 in Leopoldshain , Silesia, † November 14, 1911 in Dresden, buried in Dresden ) was an entrepreneur in the German photo industry and founder of Hüttig AG .

Life

Richard Hüttig grew up as the son of pastor Karl Hüttig in Leopoldshain in Silesia. In neighboring Görlitz he learned the trade of a carpenter and moved to Berlin in 1856, where he found a job in the workshop of the master carpenter Heßler. He made one-off studio cameras in his precision joinery.

In 1862, Hüttig founded his own workshop in Berlin, as the need for cameras was growing rapidly. At first he built French and English cameras, but improved them again and again with his own ideas. As the competition between the camera joiner's increased, Hüttig left Berlin in 1887 and opened a new workshop in Dresden at Chemnitzer Strasse 12 with four other camera technicians. Hüttig chose Dresden because, although some manufacturers of photo paper were already based here, there were hardly any serious competitors.

Craftsmanship and a strong business acumen resulted in rapid growth of the company. In 1889 George Eastman visited Richard Hüttig to recruit him for his services. Hüttig refused. The company grew steadily and in 1906 was considered Europe's largest camera factory with more than 800 employees.

Richard Hüttig's son Carl had been in charge of the company since 1887/88, but was found guilty of financial irregularities in 1904 and sentenced to prison. After the merger of Hüttig AG with ICA AG in 1909, Richard Hüttig fell into oblivion. He lived alone in a small apartment at Schandauer Strasse 40 and only the city of Dresden ensured that he found a place in the Güntz Foundation's retirement home to spend his old age in dignity. He died on November 14, 1911 in the Dresden City Hospital, Friedrichstadt.

Known products

  • Zeus mirror camera

literature

  • Richard Hummel: SLR cameras from Dresden. History, technology, facts. Lindemanns, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3895061271

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hüttig, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur in the photo industry
DATE OF BIRTH September 10, 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH Leopoldshain
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1911
Place of death Dresden