Wilhelm von Kralik-Meyrswalden

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Wilhelm Kralik, around 1875 before his nobility with the Franz Josef Order and the Golden Cross of Merit with a crown

Wilhelm Kralik Ritter von Meyrswalden (born December 17, 1806 in Kaltenbach , Böhmen ; † May 9, 1877 in Adolf , Böhmen) was a German-Bohemian , Austrian glass manufacturer and ancestor of the Kralik-Meyrswalden family .

Life

Wilhelm Kralik grew up in modest circumstances. His father Wenzel Kralik (* 1769 in Mehlhüttl, † May 24, 1835 in Neugebäu) was a carpenter, innkeeper and gunsmith. His grandfather Georg Kralik (* 1738 Planie, Bohemia, † March 24, 1813 in Klein-Zdikau) was a carpenter.

Wilhelm married Anna Maria Pinhak on March 21, 1831 in Winterberg, Bohemia (born February 25, 1814 in Sofienwald, Bohemia; † November 19, 1850 in Eleonorenhain , Bohemia ). Anna Maria died at the age of 36 and gave birth to her husband Wilhelm, thirteen children in 19 years of marriage. Anna Maria Pinhak was a niece of Johann Meyr (* 1775 in Silberberg ; † January 17, 1841), glassworks owner, godfather and sponsor of Wilhelm Kralik, whom he advocated as his successor. Since Johann Meyr, who had also financed Wilhelm's studies at the Polytechnic in Vienna , remained childless, Wilhelm chose for him the nobility title “Meyrswalden” in honor of Emperor Franz Joseph I. Why he added the “walden” to the root of the name “Meyr” is not known. It is assumed that this was supposed to create a connection to his homeland, the Bohemian Forest .

After taking over the Meyr'schen Glasfabriken, he successfully implemented his knowledge with his cousin Josef Taschenk and traded under the name Meyr's Neffen . The products of these Bohemian glassworks were of the highest quality and are still today traded as coveted collector's items under the name of “Kralik glass”. One of Kralik's glassworks, "Adolf" near Winterberg ( Vimperk ), was considered the first "art glassworks" in Europe. This glassworks was named in honor of Johann Adolf II. Prince of Schwarzenberg , who owned the forest areas. His wife, Princess Eleonore, gave the place Eleonorenhain its name .

Six months after the death of his wife Anna Maria, he married Louise Lobmeyr (born April 25, 1832 in Vienna; † October 3, 1905 in Vienna-Vorderbrühl). With this marriage, the relationship with the industrialist Ludwig Lobmeyr in Vienna, the brother of his wife Louise, one of the most prominent glass experts of his time, deepened . Despite her family's concerns about the age difference, 19-year-old Louise said I did to the 45-year-old widower. With her he fathered another 5 children, including Richard Kralik and Mathilde Kralik . By the end of his life in 1877 he had fathered a total of 18 children. With his family ties to Lobmeyr, he succeeded in expanding his glass factories in Bohemia, whose glass products later became world-famous and still fill the showcases of the glass museums today. Kralik art glasses from this time are now traded at top prices at online auction houses.

The daughter Mathilde Kralik wrote about her parents' house in 1910:

“I owe the musical sense and love of music to my father and mother. My father was a passionate violin player, albeit an autodidact, and eagerly played the quartet in Bohemian Forest. As a dilettante, my mother played the piano well and even as a girl tended to the classical direction. I first heard Beethoven's violin-piano sonatas from my parents, while Haydn's and Mozart's sounds were first conveyed to me through the domestic quartets. Later my two older brothers and finally I and them took over the house music, which consisted of duos, trios and quatuors of our classics ”.
“I took my first piano lessons from my mother, then from Eduard Hauptmann in Linz. My first attempts at composition (note, Mathilde was only 15 at the time) was supported by my brother Richard Kralik von Meyrswalden, who was very interested in it. "

His son Heinrich Kralik von Meyrswalden inherited the glassworks in Eleonorenhain , Bohemia and continued to run it after the death of his father Wilhelm under the name Wilhelm Kralik Sohn . Two pictures from this time can be seen in the gallery below, which also document the child labor that was common at the time . The grave of the Kralik von Meyrswalden family is preserved in the cemetery in Horní Vltavice .

Documents, awards and pictures

Order of the Iron Crown III. class

Shortly before his death, Wilhelm Kralik was awarded the Order of the Iron Crown III on April 11, 1877 by Emperor Franz Joseph I in recognition of his industrial and humanitarian work . Class raised to the hereditary knighthood. From then on, he and his legitimate descendants were allowed to use the title “Knight of Meyrswalden” and they also received a coat of arms. In the coat of arms you can see a two-tailed Bohemian lion in the middle , holding a glass oil vial in the right paw and above two industrial comb wheels as a symbol for his Bohemian glass factories.

Wilhelm von Kralik-Meyrswalden was also the holder of the following other orders and decorations :

Illustrations

  • Wilhelm's first wife Anna Maria geb. Pinhak with son Karl, painting ca.1840

  • Wilhelm's 2nd wife Louise b. Lobmeyr, photo taken in Paris in 1862

  • Wilhelm Kralik with daughter Ferdinanda, painting 1841 by Charles Louis Philippot (1801–1859) court painter to Prince Schwarzenberg

  • Office copy of the knighthood diploma for Wilhelm Kralik (1877), page 1

  • Catalog of the Vienna World Exhibition 1873 with products from Wilhelm Kralik's glass factories

  • Photo from the Wilhelm Kralik Sohn glassworks in Eleonorenhain 1890

  • Photo from the Wilhelm Kralik Sohn glassworks in Eleonorenhain in 1925

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Knighthood diploma for Wilhelm Kralik  - sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Kralik-Meyrswalden, Wilhelm von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meyrswalden, Wilhelm Kralik Ritter von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bohemian glass manufacturer
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Kaltenbach , Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH May 9, 1877
Place of death Winterberg , Bohemia