Johann Münzberg (3 August 1799 – 1 September 1878) was an industrialist in Austrian-era Bohemia. His textile factories, Textilwerke Johann Münzberg & Co., were at the time leading companies in Bohemia. He was also influential in the building of the Empress Elisabeth Bridge across the Elbe at Tetschen, a railway, a brewery on his estate in Libotschan, schools and a savings bank.
Life
Münzberg was born on 3 August 1799 in Schönlinde, Bohemia, the son of Johann Gottfried Lorenz Münzberg (1758–1824) who had founded a textile factory for calico print, twine and linen in 1786.[1][2]
Münzberg trained as a weaver and first worked in his father's factory. He gained experience as a journeyman and merchant in Rumburg and Georgswalde. In 1828 he and his brother Josef Münzberg (1794–1867) founded a cotton spinning mill, Theresienau, in Altstadt near Tetschen. It developed into an important group of companies. After further foundations and takeovers, the factories, under the name Textilwerke Johann Münzberg & Co., had more than 60,000 spindles in 1876 and were thus the most important company in the industry in Bohemia.[2] Münzberg was called the Spinner King (Spinnerkönig).[2]
Münzberg also founded a brewery on his estate in Libotschan and participated in the establishment of a sugar factory in Saaz. He supported the construction of a new bridge across the Elbe in Tetschen.[1][3] The chain bridge was opened in 1855 as the Empress Elisabeth Bridge and connected Tetschen to the railway from Dresden to Prague.[3] Münzberg supported the construction of the Böhmische Nordbahn [de] railway as well as the establishment of schools and a savings bank in Tetschen. In 1848 and 1849 he was entitled to print emergency money (Notgeld).[1][4]
Münzberg's descendants continued to run the textile businesses, but many factories became unprofitable and were therefore shut down or taken over by Czech entrepreneurs. The factory in Bensen-Eleonorenhain remained family-owned until 1945.[1][2]
