Karl Wilhelm Scheibler

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For the chemist, see Carl Scheibler.
Karl Wilhelm Scheibler

Karl Wilhelm Scheibler
Born (1820-09-01)1 September 1820
Monschau, Prussia
Died 13 April 1881(1881-04-13) (aged 60)
Łódź, Congress Poland
Nationality German
Occupation industrialist
The "Red House" of Monschau, ancestral home of the Scheibler family
Scheibler's factory at Łódź
Scheibler's Mausoleum at the Protestant Cemetery of Łódź

Karl Wilhelm Scheibler (1 September 1820 – 13 April 1881) was a German - Polish industrialist.[1]

Biography

Scheibler was born in Montjoie (today Monschau) in the Prussian Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg into a family of textile fabricants.[2] He attended school in Monschau and Krefeld and received a practical education at his uncle's Worsted factory at Verviers (Belgium). In 1839 he worked for Société anonyme John Cockerill, a well known producer of machinery construction at that time.

Because of the riots of the Spring of Nations in 1848 Scheibler decided to leave Germany and moved to Ozorkow in Congress Poland, where his uncle, Friedrich Schlösser, had operated a textile factory since 1816. After Schlösser's death he became its commercial director.[3] Scheibler married Anna née Werner, a niece of Schlösser, on 16 September 1854. In 1852 Scheibler and his partner Julius Schwartz bought a plot at Łódź and started to build a machinery factory. In October 1854 Schwartz sold his share to Scheibler for 10,000 Ruble, making him the sole-owner of the factory.

In 1855, Scheibler founded a spinning mill with 34 frames and a steam engine of 40 horsepower. In 1857, Scheibler employed 180 labourers and earned a turnover of 305.100 Ruble in 1860. Scheibler made large profits after cotton prices in Europe increased because of the American Civil War and sold his stock at triple the price,[4] he became known as the "King of the Cotton and Linen Empires of Łódź".[5] In 1870 1,911 employees worked in his factory, which was the third largest (9.3 percent) cotton producer of Poland.

Scheibler's factory continued to prosper and he bought several smaller mills in the districts of Źarki and Księży Młyn. After a fire destroyed the factory at Księży Młyn in 1874, Scheibler rebuilt it with 88.000 spindles and built his own "Kingdom" of Księży Młyn with houses for 321 families, a fire station, schools, shops and a hospital[5][6] Scheibler was known for his social engagement[7] and supported the foundation of a municipal credit association, the Commercial Bank of Łódź (Bank Handlowy) in 1872[8] as well as the construction of a Lutheran and a Catholic Church.[9]

In 1880, he transformed his enterprise into a stock corporation with a share capital of 9 million Ruble.[10]

Scheibler died on 13 April 1881 in Łódź and was buried at the Protestant Cemetery of Łódź in a mausoleum designed by the Warsaw architects Joseph Dziekonski and Edward Lilop.

Awards

Cultural associations

Andrzej Wajda's movie The Promised Land was filmed inside Scheibler's Palace, which is today the location of the Cinematographic Museum of the National Film School in Łódź.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Aufbau und Entwicklung der Lodzer Textilindustrie (in German). Otto Heike. 1971. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 
  2. ↑ findagrave
  3. ↑ Deutsche biographische Enzyklopädie (in German). Rudolf Vierhaus. 2007. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 EUbuildit
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Łódź in the Post-communist Era: In Search of a New Identity". Joanna B. Michlic. The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 
  6. ↑ migrationsroute.nrw.de(German)
  7. ↑ Biography
  8. ↑ History of the Bank Handlowy (Polish)
  9. ↑ Biography at State archive Łódź (Polish)
  10. ↑ Urząd Miasta Łódź, Księży Młyn, Łódź 1998, p. 23 (Polish)

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