Johannes Quistorp

Life

Johannes Quistorp was born on November 14, 1822 in Greifswald, the eldest son of a royal commissioner. At sixteen he began training at the JG Michaelis & Sohn company in Rostock, where he worked for several years as an assistant. In 1846 he moved to Szczecin. After completing a year of military service he partnered with various companies, including Goldammer & Schleich, and in 1850 he founded his own company, Johs Quistorp & Co. In 1852 he married Theune Wilhelmina (1830–1886) and had five children: Mary in 1853, Heinrich in 1856 (died in 1880), Johanne in 1858, Luise in 1859, and Martin in 1860. In 1888, he married for a second time, to Leidloff Mathilde.

Johannes Quistorp was an entrepreneur and philanthropist. He founded the Portland cement factory "Lebbin" (in Lubin), which, under his leadership was transformed into a joint-stock company. He also had a brickyard and a steam-powered cement factory in Stołczyn as well as estates in Dusewitz, Wittenfelde, Schlietz on Rügia and in Szczecin. He was the founder of a construction company and initiated the establishment of new neighborhoods in Szczecin including Westend, Neu Westend and Braunsfeld (now the western part of the city of Szczecin, known as Pogodno and Łekno). In the years 1852-1866 he served as royal consul in Hannover. He held the title of Minister of Trade. He was one of the first executives in Szczecin and Prussia, who, at the beginning of the era of industrialization in the nineteenth century, was involved in the social issues of their employees. Quistorp financed the construction of schools, hospitals, shelters, orphanages and foundations. He died on May 9, 1899. During his funeral, thousands of Szczecin residents followed the procession to his final resting place. He was buried in the cemetery, on the premises of the Bethanien Foundation, at the current Wawrzyniak street in Szczecin.

Philanthropic projects