Hugo Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck (born April 26, 1811 in Siemianowitz,

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...

(now in Poland), died October 4, 1890 in Vienna) was a German-Austrian entrepreneur.

Biography

He was born the only child of Count Karol

Henckel von Donnersmarck The House of Henckel von Donnersmarck is an old Austro-German noble family that originated in the former region of Spiš in Upper Hungary, now in Slovakia. The founder of the family was Henckel de Quintoforo in the 14/15th century. The original ...

and Eugenia Wengersky von Ungarschütz. Laurahütte Oberschlesien 1840

In 1832 he inherited his father's possessions in

Bytom Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', german: Beuthen O.S.) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital ...

, Upper Silesia and began his involvement in agriculture, livestock, and heavy industry. He built the first puddling and Steel

rolling mill In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simil ...

in Germany at Laurahiitte (

Siemianowice Śląskie Siemianowice Śląskie also known as Siemianowice (; german: Siemianowitz-Laurahütte; szl, Siymianowice) is a city in Upper Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice, in its central district in the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropoli ...

). In 1846 he inherited

family possessions in

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

; in particular Wolfsberg and Bad Sankt Leonhard in Lavanttal. Here he reorganized the steel industry and moved it from

Frantschach-Sankt Gertraud Frantschach-Sankt Gertraud is a town in the district of Wolfsberg in the Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a ...

in the Wolfsberg district to

Zeltweg Zeltweg is a town in Styria, Austria. It is located in the Aichfeld basin of the Mur River in Upper Styria. Larger municipalities in the vicinity are Judenburg, Knittelfeld and Fohnsdorf. History Some farms were recorded at Zeltweg in the Duchy of ...

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

, where he had a puddling and steel rolling mill soon built. By 1871 the company ''Vereinigte Königs- und Laurahütte'' was a major part of its coal and steel industry in Upper Silesia. To compensate the town of

Frantschach Frantschach-Sankt Gertraud is a town in the district of Wolfsberg in the Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a ...

for the loss of its steel industry he set up a soda-pulp and

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

in 1881/82, which is still called ''Mondi Packaging Frantschach GmbH'' which is still the largest employer in Frantschach. Palais Henckel v Donnersmarck- Weihburgg

Palais Henckel v Donnersmarck- Weihburgg

He rebuilt Castle Wolfsberg in

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

Tudor style was renewed. He married twice first to Countess Laurą von Hardenberg (1812–1857), his second wife was Laurą von Kaszony (1836–1905) for whom he had the Palais Henckel von Donnersmarck in Vienna built as a gift in 1872. His children were Hugo II (1832–1908), Łazarz IV (1835–1914), Artur (1836–1921), Laura (1838–1931) and Alfons (1840–1856).

References

Henckel von Donnersmarck, Hugo
Katalog Der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek ''d-nb.info'' * ''Hugo Reichsgraf Henckel Freiherr von Donnersmarck und die Geschichte seines Hauses'', Wien (b.r.w.). * ''Henckel von Donnersmarck Hugo'', A. Perlick, w

* ''Henckel von Donnersmarck Hugo'', w: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexicon 1815-1950, Bd II, Graz-Köln 1959. * ''Henckel von Donnersmarckowie. Kariera i fortuna rodu'', A. Kuzio-Podrucki, Bytom 2003,

External links

Schlosss Wolfsberg
''www.schloss-wolfsberg.at''

''www.arekkp.pl'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnersmarck, Hugo Henckel von

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...

1890 deaths 1811 births

Biography

See also

References

External links