Johann Heinrich Christoph Wiegand (17 August 1855 in
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
– 29 March 1909 in
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe () is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg v.d.Höhe'', w ...
) was a lawyer who served as general director of the
Norddeutscher Lloyd
Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...
shipping company during a period of great expansion.
Life and career
Wiegand was born in Bremen, where his father, originally from the Upper Weser region, owned a profitable nursery and landscaping business. A teacher persuaded him to allow his son to study at the ''
gymnasium'' and then go to university.
[Georg Bessell, ''Norddeutscher Lloyd, 1857–1957: Geschichte einer bremischen Reederei'', Bremen: Schünemann, ]957
Year 957 ( CMLVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* September 6 – Liudolf, the eldest son of King Otto I, dies of a violent fever nea ...
, p. 66 . He studied law at the universities of
Erlangen
Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...
,
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and
Strassburg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eur ...
, passed the
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
at
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
and earned a
Doctor of Law
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL ...
degree by examination at
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
in 1879, and went into practice as a lawyer in Bremen that same year.
[Paul August Ferdinand Neubaur, ''Der Norddeutsche Lloyd: 50 Jahre der Entwickelung, 1857–1907'' volume 2 Leipzig: Grunow, 1907, ]
p. 606
. He was interested in transport and in 1878 had taken the state examination in
Colmar
Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...
and become a
referendary Referendary is the English form of a number of administrative positions, of various rank, in chanceries and other official organizations in Europe.
Pre-modern history
The office of ' (plural: ', from the Latin ', "I inform") existed at the Byzan ...
as the first step to a career with the railway.
[ In his first case for Norddeutscher Lloyd in 1884, he demonstrated an excellent mastery of maritime and business law;][ in 1889 he became the company's general counsel.][Bessell, p. 65.] Beginning at the end of that decade, he tried repeatedly to persuade businessmen in Bremen to promote industry, which the city lacked. In particular he attempted to make Bremen the base of operations for American development of electric tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
s in Germany through the Ludwig Loewe company of Berlin.[Bessell, p. 67.] These efforts having failed, he was on the point of moving to Berlin[ when ]Johann Georg Lohmann
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
died suddenly on 9 February 1892 and he was chosen to succeed him as director of Norddeutscher Lloyd from 1 April 1892.[Fritz Berolzheimer, ''Deutschland von heute: Kulturgemälde der deutschen Gegenwart'', 2nd ed. Berlin/Leipzig: Rothschild, 1910, ]
p. 37
. Initially two vice presidents were to assist him; after two years both had retired and until his own death in 1909, he worked with Geo Plate, the head of the board of directors and the man who had proposed his name.[ In 1899 his title became general director][ and Plate's, president.][
In 1905, Wiegand was offered the position of State Secretary for the Colonies, but refused it;][ ]Chancellor von Bülow
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
considered having Kaiser Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and List of monarchs of Prussia, King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication on 9 ...
order him to accept.
He died of kidney disease at a spa at the age of 53.
Achievements
Wiegand overhauled and greatly expanded the NDL fleet, phasing out Lohmann's express liners and introducing the larger and faster Barbarossa class, which were widely emulated, and the and sister ships, the first four funnel liner
A four-funnel liner, also known as a four-stacker, is an ocean liner with four funnels.
, launched in 1897, was the first ocean liner to have four funnels and was one of the first of the golden era of ocean liners that became prominent in the 2 ...
s. He also presided over a great expansion of the company's routes, through both direct services and subsidiaries, especially in the Far East and Australasia.[Wyand]
p. 78
[Bessell, p. 98.] For a time at least, the company dominated its rival, the Hamburg-America Line
The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent citi ...
.[Douglas R. Burgess, Jr., ''Seize the Trident: The Race for Superliner Supremacy and How it Altered the Great War'', Camden, Maine: International Marine/McGraw Hill, 2005, ]
p. 67
"Wiegand was, in 1901, a far more powerful man than Albert Ballin
Albert Ballin (15 August 1857 – 9 November 1918) was a German shipping magnate. He was the general director of the Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG) or Hamburg-America Line, which for a time was the world's largest s ...
. It was Lloyd ships that had claimed the Blue Riband, introduced a plethora of new luxuries to sea travel, and held—except for the brief interregnum of 1899–1903—the title of world's largest." Despite a serious financial downturn beginning in 1907, Wiegand was also able to preside over most of the building of a vast new headquarters, the largest building in Bremen, for which the foundation stone for the last section was laid that year to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary; it was completed after his death, in 1910.[
Both to further NDL's business interests and because he remained convinced that Bremen needed industry, he founded several industrial plants, in particular ]Atlas Elektronik
Atlas Elektronik is a naval/marine electronics and systems business based in Bremen, Germany. It is involved in the development of integrated sonar systems for submarines and heavyweight torpedoes.
The company was a subsidiary of BAE Systems ...
(founded in 1902 as Norddeutsche Maschinen- und Armaturenfabrik), developed the company's repair and manufacturing facilities including a basin for testing hull models, was a prime mover in developing the industrial harbour and set up the Norddeutsche Hütte
ArcelorMittal Bremen is a steelworks on the banks of the River Weser in Bremen, Germany.
An ironworks was established on the site in 1911 as ''Norddeutsche Hütte'' - much of the works was destroyed or dismantled during and immediately after the ...
there in 1907 as the nucleus of a steel plant, and developed coal fields in partnership with 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 ...
.[ The industries that NDL developed under him were known in Bremen as the "Wiegand industries", and included companies that were important to Germany's interests abroad, such as Deutsche Südseephosphat AG, headquartered in Bremen and founded in 1908.
]
Business philosophy
Wiegand had a close and friendly relationship with the company's head of engineering, Max Walter, and adopted technical innovations rapidly where safety was concerned; for example, the telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
was installed in 1899 on the ''Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse'', and by 1913 most NDL steamers had it and also sonar
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...
. However, the company remained slow in adopting other innovations, notably turbine propulsion, as it had been to introduce twin-screw propulsion.
Norddeutscher Lloyd and Hamburg-America were locked in competition throughout Wiegand's tenure. However, he remained on friendly terms with Albert Ballin
Albert Ballin (15 August 1857 – 9 November 1918) was a German shipping magnate. He was the general director of the Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG) or Hamburg-America Line, which for a time was the world's largest s ...
, head of the rival company. In 1905 he wrote to him:In my view, the field of opportunities is large enough for us both that it leaves both companies sufficient room for expansion. That we have competed with each other and sought to reduce each other in particular areas, all annoyance and chagrin that now one and now the other of us has thereby experienced, has now, however, been forgotten in the end.
There were several proposals for cooperation from both sides during the two men's tenures. At the end of his life, in autumn 1918, Ballin told a meeting of the Hamburg-America board that the only person he knew who could have helped them in the crisis of the losing war was the late Heinrich Wiegand.
Wiegand was, however, reluctant to let NDL become part of J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
's International Mercantile Marine
The International Mercantile Marine Company, originally the International Navigation Company, was a trust formed in the early twentieth century as an attempt by J.P. Morgan to monopolize the shipping trade.
IMM was founded by shipping magnates ...
combine along with Hamburg-America, as urged by Ballin and Kaiser Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and List of monarchs of Prussia, King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication on 9 ...
; the Kaiser described him as ''ein eigensinniger Friese'' (an obstinate Frisian) for his initial refusal, but he eventually agreed to the plan.[ Throughout his career, he saw German business and German patriotism as linked, writing in a letter of "''die Verbindung kaufmännischer Solidität und nationaler Denkungsart''" (the connection between being a solid business person and thinking in a national manner). He attempted to keep the press from reporting on the Kaiser's inflammatory "]Hun speech
The Hun speech was delivered by German emperor Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Wilhelm II on 27 July 1900 in Bremerhaven, on the occasion of the farewell of parts of the German East Asian Expeditionary Corps (). The expeditionary corps w ...
" on the occasion of the German force shipping out of Bremerhaven to suppress the Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
in China, and deeply regretted not having told the Kaiser in advance that he was misinformed about the extent of atrocities there.[Bessell, p. 86.]
He gave public recognition to the NDL workers for their contributions to the company, on one occasion at a banquet aboard the Imperial yacht ''Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...
'' noting to the Kaiser that the company could not have achieved what it was being praised for without the workers, and naming specific examples. According to his memoirs, the Chancellor thanked him privately for giving the Kaiser a different view of the German worker than he was used to.[ During his tenure he expanded the Seamen's Pension Fund, founded a Lloyd Widows' and Orphans' Fund, and in 1900 in memory of his wife established the Elisabeth Wiegand-Stiftung (Elisabeth Wiegand Foundation) in aid of needy current and former NDL employees and their dependents.][Combined with other company foundations in 1940–42 to form the Präsident-Achelis-Elisabeth-Wiegand-Stiftung, which was rebuilt after being largely destroyed by the postwar revaluation of the West German currency; Bessell, p. 189.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiegand, Heinrich
1855 births
1909 deaths
Norddeutscher Lloyd
Businesspeople from Bremen
Deaths from kidney disease