Adolph Meyer (banker)
Adolph Meyer | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Hanover, Kingdom of Hanover |
| Died | April 10, 1866 (aged 59) |
| Occupation(s) | Banker, industrial entrepreneur |
| Known for | Founder of Bankhaus Adolph Meyer; pioneer in mechanical cotton spinning in Hanover; founder of Aerzener Maschinenfabrik |
Adolph Meyer (born 5 January 1807, died 10 April 1866) was a notable banker and industrial entrepreneur based in Hannover, Germany.
Family
Adolph Meyer was a member of the distinguished Jewish banking dynasty connected to Simon Meyer from Hanover. His paternal grandfather was Meyer Joseph Schwerin, who passed away in 1796.
He wed Fanny Königswarter (1804–1861), sister to Wilhelm Königswarter and daughter of Simon Königswarter, a banker from Fürth. Their offspring comprised Lisette, Bertha, Wilhelm, Charlotte, Sigmund Meyer (1840–1911), Emil (1841–1899), Friederike, and Albert.
Career and businesses
Adolph expanded upon his father Simon’s enterprise, rebranding it as Bankhaus Adolph Meyer. The bank’s premises at Schillerstraße 32 were erected between 1845 and 1848 within Hannover’s developing Bahnhofsviertel district. From 1866 onward, management passed to his son Sigmund, with Bankhaus Adolph Meyer continuing operations until 1938.
In 1828, Meyer launched a weaving factory in Linden and further enlarged it in 1837 alongside partners Alexander Abraham Cohen, Carl Domeyer, and Georg Wessel. Between 1831 and 1832, they established the Mechanische Weberei Linden an der Ihme—the Kingdom of Hanover’s inaugural mechanical cotton spinning mill. Following the acquisition of full ownership in 1853 by buying out his associates, the company transitioned into a joint-stock firm in 1858 producing the renowned "Lindener Samt" fabric. Both Meyer and Cohen retained one-sixth of the shares.
In 1833, Meyer financed the first Roman cement manufacturing plant in Hameln. By 1845, he had purchased brass works in Reher near Aerzen and developed cement and machinery factories there. Subsequently, additional facilities for twisting, weaving, bleaching, and wool spinning were established at the site.
He received Hanoverian citizenship in 1848 and was appointed captain of the Citizen Guard through election.
Starting in 1853, Meyer collaborated with Cohen to develop the Hannoversche Baumwollspinnerei und -weberei located in Linden-Limmer adjacent to the Mechanische Weberei.
In 1854, he engaged Heinrich Ludwig Debo to construct a workers’ colony on Fannystraße near the spinning mill; this settlement was named in honor of his wife.
By 1860, Meyer transferred the agricultural machinery factory to Aerzen and founded the Aerzener Maschinenfabrik there four years later.
Art collecting and philanthropy
Meyer was an active supporter of the Hanover Art Association as well as numerous Jewish and general welfare organizations. Serving on the Jewish community’s board and its building commission, he played a significant role in advancing the construction of the new synagogue on Bergstraße, which was later destroyed by National Socialist forces in 1938.
He is credited with producing the oldest surviving amateur photograph of Hanover—a calotype print preserved by the Hanover Historical Museum—depicting Versman’s house on Schmiedestraße prior to its demolition; this image bears his signature in the negative.
Adolph Meyer and his wife Fanny were laid to rest at the Old Jewish Cemetery on Oberstraßen.
Literature
- Selig Gronemann: Genealogische Studien über die alten jüdischen Familien Hannovers, Berlin 1913, p. 146.
- Ludwig Hoerner (with Franz Rudolf Zankl): Hannover in frühen Photographien 1848–1910, Schirmer-Mosel, München 1979, pp. 68f.
- Das Buch der alten Firmen der Stadt Hannover im Jahr 1927, Leipzig 1927, p. 152.
- Albert Lefèvre: Der Beitrag der hannoverschen Industrie zum technischen Fortschritt, in Hannoversche Geschichtsblätter, Neue Folge 24, 1970, pp. 269f.
- Walter Buschmann: Linden. Geschichte einer Industriestadt im 19. Jahrhundert, Quellen und Darstellungen zur Geschichte Niedersachsen, Band 75, Hildesheim 1981.