Dietrich Gruen

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Dietrich Gruen
Born	1847 Osthofen, Germany
Died	1911 Italy
Occupation	watchmaker
Nationality	German American

Dietrich Gruen (1847—1911) German born watchmaker who emigrated to the USA in the 1880s and founded the Gruen watch Company.

[edit] Early life and education

Attended both public and private schools. At age 15 began learning the watchmaking tade. Gruen apprenticed to Hans Martens in Friedburg, Germany and also worked in Karlsruhe, Wiesbaden, and Lode.

[edit] Later Life and Career

In 1867 he travelled to the United States, following in the steps of his three older brothers, all of whom immigrated several years before. One of his three brothers had died in 1863 in the American Civil War.

On this trip he met Pauline Wittlinger, the daughter of a watchmaker. Wittlinger lived in Delaware, Ohio. In 1869 Gruen married Wittlinger, moved to Delaware and worked for her father.

Dietrich and Pauline's first child was a son, Frederick G. Gruen, born in 1872. George J. Gruen was the child, born in 1877.

In 1876 Gruen started the Columbus Watch Manufacturing Company, located at 117 1/2 High Street. In 1882, the company was reorganized as the Columbus Watch Company and moved to a building on Thurman Street. The company was now in the ranks of other older established American watch companies like Waltham Watch Company and Elgin National Watch Company.

In 1894, Dietrich left the Columbus Watch Company. Shortly afterwawrds the business went bankrupt - as a result of the panic of 1893 and the resulting economic downtown.

By 1898, Gruen and his two sons had established the Gruen Watch Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1911, on a business trip, Dietrich died suddenly while he and his son Fred were nearing the Italian coast on a steamship.