I. D. Weickert

Biography

I. D. Weickert was born August 23, 1751, the fourth son in a family of fourteen children. He trained as an optician and established his own business at Leipsic in 1783, where thrift and industry brought early prosperity. The Napoleonic wars devastated German business for years, and Weickert's hard-earned savings gradually disappeared, forcing his family to endure severe hardship. The resulting worry and suffering caused his untimely death in 1816, leaving his family in near-poverty. His fifteen-year-old son, August Moritz, together with his mother, held on to what remained of the business as peace returned to Europe, eventually rebuilding it into a major hardware and, later, felt-manufacturing concern.

Highlights

• Born August 23, 1751, the fourth of 14 children; trained as an optician
• Established his own business at Leipsic in 1783
• Ruined financially by the Napoleonic wars, he died in 1816 amid hardship

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911).

Public domain.