Silk baron
As silk barons some of the be Krefeld silk manufacturers indicated that it had brought in the 18th and 19th centuries great prestige, wealth and above all independence and influence on the government. “ Baron ” describes his title holder as a free, independent man with extensive special privileges.
The first Freiherr (baron) from this family was Friedrich Heinrich von Friedrich von der Leyen . He was an extremely successful silk manufacturer from Krefeld and, with his cousin Friedrich, was the third generation managing director of the velvet and silk company "Friedrich and Heinrich von der Leyen & Cie.". This supplied almost the entire European nobility with costly scarves and silk fabrics such as velvet and silk brocade . When he was raised to the Prussian nobility, he and his descendants, the Freiherren von der Leyen , actually became barons. The last active manufacturer and merchant from this family was "Gustav Heinrich Freiherr von der Leyen", who ended production in 1857.
Individual proof
- ↑ Croon, Helmuth, “von der Leyen, Friedrich Heinrich Freiherr von der Leyen zu Bloemersheim”, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 14 (1985), p. 433 [online version]; URL: http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd136670946.html