Adolph von Hansemann (27 July 1826 – 9 December 1903) was an

Imperial German ', literally translated "Germans of the ", is an archaic term for those ethnic Germans who resided within the German state that was founded in 1871. In contemporary usage, it referred to German citizens, the word signifying people from the Germ ...

businessman and banker.

Life

Born in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

in 1826 to German banker and railroad entrepreneur

David Hansemann David Justus Ludwig Hansemann (12 July 1790 – 4 August 1864) was a Prussian politician and banker, serving as the Prussian Minister of Finance in 1848. Life Hansemann was born in Finkenwerder, Hamburg, the son of a Protestant minister. Afte ...

, Adolph Hansemann developed an early interest in business administration. He left home for

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in 1841. He was a partner in his brother Gustav's textile factory in

Eupen Eupen (, ; ; formerly ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Liège, from the German border (Aachen), from the Dutch border (Maastricht) and from the "High Fens" na ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, until leaving to help manage his father's

Disconto-Gesellschaft The Disconto-Gesellschaft (full name: Direktion der Disconto-Gesellschaft), with headquarters in Berlin, was founded in 1851. It was, until its 1929 merger into Deutsche Bank, one of the largest German banking organizations. History It was fou ...

in 1857. After his father's death in 1864, Adolph Hansemann continued to develop it by himself, expanding it into the largest private bank in the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

and one of the most famous in Europe. Along with Gerson von Bleichroeder, he arranged the financing for the

Royal Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War; for his services, he was elevated to the peerage by

Kaiser Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the f ...

and appended the ''von'' to his name. As a board member at

Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...

and chairman of the Gelsenkirchen Mining Company (''Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG''), he participated in the growth of coal and steel industries in the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

valley. Like his father, he was also involved with the German railroads, including the Lehrte line, as well as lines in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Taking advantage of Bethel Strousberg's exposure there, Hansemann's greatest coup was working with Bleichroeder to purchase Strousberg's railways throughout Germany at a fraction of their real value. He was an advocate of Germany's imperial expansion. He funded

Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy Johann Cesar Godeffroy (7 July 1813 in Kiel – 9 February 1885 in Blankenese) was a German trader, blackbirder and Hanseat. He was the founder of Museum Godeffroy. Family history and the trading company J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn The Godeffroys ...

's Sea Trade Society (''Seehandels-Gesellschaft'') plantations and with

Wilhelm Solf Wilhelm Heinrich Solf (5 October 1862 – 6 February 1936) was a German scholar, diplomat, jurist and statesman. Early life Solf was born into a wealthy and liberal family in Berlin. He attended secondary schools in Anklam, western Pomerania, an ...

worked towards the establishment of

German Samoa German Samoa (german: Deutsch-Samoa) was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1920, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima and Manono, now wholly within the independent state of Samoa, formerly ''Western Samoa''. Samoa was the last ...

. In May 1884, Von Hansemann, and a syndicate of German bankers formed the New Guinea Consortium (''Neuguinea-Konsortium'', later ''Neuguinea-Kompanie'') and Astrolabe Company (''Astrolabe-Compagnie'') which led to the establishment of

Kaiser-Wilhelmsland Kaiser-Wilhelmsland ("Emperor William's Land") formed part of German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neuguinea), the South Pacific protectorate of the German Empire. Named in honour of Wilhelm I, who reigned as German Emperor () from 1871 to 1888, i ...

and

German New Guinea German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...

in the South Pacific. This syndicate was created with the knowledge and blessing of the German chancellor, Count

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

, and with secrecy and speed an expedition was fitted out under Dr

Otto Finsch Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (8 August 1839, Warmbrunn – 31 January 1917, Braunschweig) was a German ethnographer, natural history, naturalist and colonial explorer. He is known for a two-volume monograph on the parrots of the world which earned ...

, an ornithologist and explorer. His task was to select land for plantation development on the north-east coast of New Guinea and establish trading posts.Linke, R 2006, The influence of German surveying on the development of New Guinea,
Association of Surveyors of PNG
Accessed 25 January 2014. His Disconto Society funded the Central Line in

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...

and the Shantung Railroad in the German concession of Kiaochau,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Construction of his Otavi Railroad in

German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

coincided with the

Herero genocide The Herero and Namaqua genocide or the Herero and Nama genocide was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment waged by the German Empire against the Herero (Ovaherero) and the Nama in German South West Africa (now Namibia). ...

there. By this time Adolph von Hansemann was one of the richest men in the German Empire. Between 1887 and 1896, he modernized the

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...

resort of

Sassnitz Sassnitz (, before 1993 in german: Saßnitz) is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The population as of 2012 was 9,498. Sassnitz is a well-known seaside resort and port town, and is ...

, the site of his castle Dwasieden, at his own expense. He also maintained a villa in Berlin and another at Lissa and purchased extensive tracts of land for his heirs. He married Ottilie von Kusserow ''( :de:Ottilie von Hansemann)'', daughter of the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Lt. Gen. Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star rank, three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in ...

Ferdinand von Kusserow, early advocate of women's rights, and sister of Heinrich von Kusserow ''( :de:Heinrich von Kusserow)'', who became the first head of colonial affairs for the

German Foreign Office , logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg , logo_width = 260 px , image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg , picture_width = 300px , image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building , headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...

. Adolph's children were

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

and Davide Eveline von Hansemann. In October 1903, he died at work at his desk; according to his secretary, his last words were, "Well, tomorrow we work on."

Sources

* Däbritz, Walther: ''David Hansemann und Adolph von Hansemann''. Scherpe, Krefeld 1954. German. * Kleeberg, John M
''The Disconto-Gesellschaft and German Industrialization: a critical examination of the career of a German Universal Bank, 1851–1914''
1988. Accessed 9 September 2010. * Lindemann, Ralf: ''Das weiße Schloss am Meer – Schloss Dwasieden in

auf der Insel Rügen''. Reprint Verlag Rügen, 2. Auflage, Bergen 2007. German. * Mckillop, Bob & al
''End of the Line: a History of Railways in Papua New Guinea''
University of Papua New Guinea Press, 1997. Accessed 9 September 2010. * Overlach, Theodore Wm
''Foreign Financial Control in China''
Ayer Publishing, 1976. Accessed 9 September 2010.

External links

Biography
by the Historical Association of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

(in German)
Schloss Dwasieden in the book ''The White Castle by the Sea''
(in German) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hansemann, Adolph von 1826 births 1903 deaths People from Aachen People from the Rhine Province German untitled nobility German Empire politicians People of former German colonies German bankers