Franz Dominic Grassi (* 11 May 1801 in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

; † 14 November 1880 Leipzig) was a merchant in Leipzig with Italian ancestry family. Through his extensive heritage to the city, it was possible to construct numerous monuments and buildings.

Life

He was born as son of Franz Josef Grassi (merchant and financier) and his spouse Rossi. The family originate from

central Italy Central Italy ( it, Italia centrale or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region, and a European Parliament constituency. Regions Central I ...

and immigrated to Leipzig. After his commercial training and numerous trips abroad, he founded his own trading firm for Russian products, indigo dye and tropical fruits in Leipzig. After the death of his father in 1847, he operated mostly in speculation and exchange business and after the death of his mother in 1854, he retired completely from active commercial life. Grassi remained a bachelor all his life and was regarded as an original of Leipzig. He was a theater and horse lover, and therefore one of the founders of the Leipzig racing club. He also supported Leipzig citizens, who were in emergency situations. In Leipzig Grassi also popularly called "The Wood Sucker" because of the habit of chewing on a toothpick. Grassi is buried at the Alter Johannisfriedhof ("Old St. John's Cemetery").

Legacy

Although Grassi largely considered in his testament even distant relatives, godchildren and servants, he left the city a fortune of 2.327 million

Gold Mark The German mark (german: Goldmark ; sign: ℳ) was the currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the g ...

(approx. 23 million euro). From this property numerous construction projects, parks and monuments have been supported, some of which were destroyed during World War II ( New Gewandhaus and the museums on

Augustusplatz The Augustusplatz is a square located at the east end of the city centre of Leipzig, borough Leipzig-Mitte. It is the city's largest square and one of the largest (and, prior to almost all its buildings being destroyed in bombing in the Second Wor ...

. Of the remaining buildings is the Grassi Museum at Johannisplatz, the "Old Grassi Museum" (now Leipzig city library) and the Mendebrunnen mention. Furthermore parts of the money was used for the erection of the Völkerschlachtdenkmal, and the monuments for

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

and

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

. Since 2002 the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Germany and the TU Chemnitz endow the "Franz Dominic Grassi Prize" for services to promote the German-Italian trade and economic relations.

References

External links

Grassi Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grassi, Franz Dominic 1801 births 1880 deaths Businesspeople from Leipzig German philanthropists 19th-century philanthropists