William Suermondt
William Suermondt (born September 2, 1840 in Aachen , † December 17, 1930 in Potsdam ; full name: Charles William James Suermondt ) was a German entrepreneur .
Life
The second son of the entrepreneur Barthold Suermondt and Amalie Suermondt geb. Cockerill, daughter of the entrepreneur James Cockerill , completed his school days in the Kadettenanstalt Schloss Bensberg . He then studied mining at the Karlsruhe Polytechnic and at the Freiberg Mining Academy .
Soon after his studies, his father appointed him director of the Wandre coal mines near Seraing in 1865 . For this, John Cockerill , a brother of James, and the father of Barthold Suermondt had received a concession in 1827 . After John Cockerill's death in 1840, the company was transferred as Charbonnage des frères Suermondt to Barthold and his brother Robert Suermondt (1819-1856).
After Barthold Suermondt had also founded Rheinische Stahlwerke AG in Duisburg-Meiderich in 1870 and was chairman of the supervisory board as the main shareholder , William once again followed his father's call and took over together with George Oktave Pastor , a son of the German-Belgian entrepreneur Konrad Gustav Pastor and before General Director of SA Cockerill , the office of technical director and also became a member of the Board of Directors. Both families lived together in the former and meanwhile destroyed Meiderich Castle . In addition, William Suermondt was one of the founders of the Hohenzollern stock corporation for locomotive construction in Düsseldorf-Grafenberg in 1872 and sat on its supervisory board there. On November 14, 1876, William Suermondt received his Prussian citizenship back for himself and his family , after he had lost it in 1866 because of his work and the associated move to Belgium .
In 1878, Suermondt moved, again at his father's request, to the Prussian province of Poznan to work as mine director to renovate the currently ailing rock salt mine in Inowrocław (Hohensalza). A year later, he founded in the district Montwy soda factory Chemical Factory Robert Suermondt & Co. Montwy where as the main funder, among other things, the Bank of his brother Robert Suermondt was involved and therefore the company was on its name. In 1881 Suermondt transferred the rock salt mine for 4 million marks to the newly founded rock salt mine Inowroclaw AG , but kept the management of the soda factory, which he had equipped with Hohenzollern locomotives, among other things. In 1907 this factory was sold to the Belgian Solvay group. It currently exists under the name Inowrocławskie Zakłady Chemiczne Soda Mątwy .
After Suermondt had temporarily withdrawn from all business areas from 1889 for health reasons, he moved to Gießen , from where he undertook several cures and recreational trips. By 1891 he had recovered to such an extent that he could take over an office in the mining industry in Breslau . There he belonged, among other things, to the Silesian Society for Patriotic Culture , in whose membership list he was listed as a mine owner. In 1906 he finally retired and spent the rest of his life in Potsdam.
William Suermondt was married to Emilie geb. Riema (1845–1927), with whom he had six children, including the later district administrator Georg Wilhelm Suermondt . William and Emilie Suermondt found their final resting place in the Berlin Cathedral Cemetery .
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Suermondt, William |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Suermondt, Charles William James (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 2, 1840 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Aachen |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th December 1930 |
| Place of death | Potsdam |