Hermann Dietrich Upmann (1 May 1816 in Bielefeld-Altstadt, Germany – 29 January 1894 Bremen,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) was a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

er, merchant and cigar manufacturer in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, creator of the

H. Upmann H. Upmann is a Cuban brand of premium cigars established by banker Hermann Dietrich Upmann (who also founded the H. Upmann & Co. bank on the island). The brand is currently owned by a British corporation, Imperial Brands. The cigars are manuf ...

1844 brand. At 23 years old he embarked for the New World in 1839 to work for an import / export Company: The Gravenhorst & Co. During the voyage, a Briton persuaded him to stay in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

where the tobacco business was flourishing. Upmann accepted the suggestion. He learned the processes and secrets of cigar manufacturing, purchased a local cigar

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...

at 85 San Miguel Street, Havana, and created the H. Upmann 1844 brand, which is among the oldest cigar brands in the world. In 1855 he received the first of many prizes that he would obtain over the following years. He achieved the qualification of "''Provider of His Majesty Don Alfonso XII, King of Spain''". His is one of the five largest tobacco factories in Cuba. Hermann Upmann became a director of the

Havana Cigar Habanos S.A. is a Cuban manufacturing company of tobacco that controls the promotion, distribution, and export of premium cigars and other tobacco products for Cuba worldwide. It was established in 1994. Ownership of Habanos S.A. is split equa ...

Brand Association, an organization that works to confront the production and sale of counterfeit cigars . He nevertheless found the tropical climate in Cuba difficult, so he decided against a lasting stay. His youngest brother, August Ludwig Upmann (born 1818) started to work with him and thus stayed in Cuba. Hermann Dietrich Upmann returned to Germany in 1848 and founded the cigar company Gebrüder Upmann & Co. Bremen. In 1864, his nephew, Heinrich Upmann, arrived in Cuba. With capital contributed mainly by his uncle, they founded an organization dedicated to banking operations - initially catering to tobacco dealers and manufacturers, whose operations were spread through the Antilles. The company grew to such an extent that it was transformed into a vertical operation: they took care of the seedbeds, plant, harvest, manufacture, pack and, with their own shipping company, transported their products to other markets. Hermann Upmann retired in 1890, and was succeeded at H. Upmann & Co. by his nephew, Heinrich Upmann, who continued the business with his partners Heinrich Runken and

Theodore Garbade Theodore Dietrich Garbade (September 12, 1873 – January 26, 1961) was a merchant and banker, he was President of the Union of Manufacturers of Cigars of Cuba. As a young man he moved from the German Village of Cigarmakers “''Zigarrenmacherdorf ...

. The later was president of the Union of Cigar manufacturers of the Island. After Heinrich's death in 1914, he was succeeded by his nephews Hermann and Albert (Alberto) Upmann. Hermann Upmann died in Bremen 1894 and is buried in the Upmann family grave at the in Bremen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Upmann, Hermann Dietrich 1816 births 1894 deaths German bankers Cigar makers Businesspeople from Bielefeld Cuban businesspeople 19th-century German businesspeople German expatriates