Ágoston Léderer
August Lederer
*charcoal on paper
*46.1 x 29.6 cm
*signed b.r: EGON / SCHIELE / 1918
Ágoston Léderer must have inherited a lot from his father, since his father Ignác Léderer was also a distiller, so it is no coincidence that Ágoston, or rather August, also worked in this industry after finishing his studies, being the first to work in the family factory. But managing and taking over the family business was not enough for him, he wanted much more.
Ágoston Léderer was born in the Czech Republic on 3 May 1857. He was educated in Vienna, and as the Hungarian Economy newspaper wrote on his death on 7 May 1936, Léderer "as a young man, in partnership with the engineer Philip Porges, he founded the cutting and machine factory Léderer and Porges in Königsfeld, Brno, which grew into a very serious and important company. Subsequently he founded the Austrian Railway Traffic Ltd. in Vienna, the Hungarian Railway Traffic Ltd. in Budapest, the Aussiliara Traffic Ltd. in Milan and the German Railway Traffic Ltd. in Berlin."
He was passionate about setting up companies, but not only these, as he also traded internationally in molasses. Within the Monarchy, he found a home for a time in Győr, where he founded the Hungarian Waggon and Machine Works Limited Company and the Accumulator Factory Ltd.
He also presided over a number of factories, some of them in Győr, such as the Distillery and Refinery Ltd, but he had interests in many other distilleries within the Monarchy. It was no coincidence that he was called Spirituszkirály at the time of his death. Although he was born in the Czech Republic, his real home was Győr and Vienna. It was here that he married Serena Pulitzer, 10 years his junior, in 1892, and the ceremony was conducted by the Chief Rabbi of the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest.
The 90% of the Győr Distillery and Refinery Ltd. was owned by the family, which he transformed into a kind of family business. He was able to buy the otherwise well-established plant relatively cheaply in 1895, as it was not very profitable due to poor marketing. Léderer managed the factory himself, first through directors and then from 1911, when the former director died, and even moved his family into the director's apartment in the factory.
Initially, Léderer's ownership in the Magyar Waggon und Gépárgyár in Győr was equally dominant, but here his shares were sold by Ágoston Léderer to Wiener Bankverein in 1907.
He and his family not only moved to Győr but also became Hungarian citizens, but after World War I they moved to the Austrian capital.
Besides founding and managing his companies, he was very interested in art, and his wife was his partner in this. Not only did they buy works of art, but he was a patron of two of the most prominent Austrian painters of the time, Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. It was no coincidence that Klimt painted Serena and her mother, Ágoston Léderer's mother-in-law, and the couple's daughter, and even one room in their Vienna apartment was decorated solely with Klimt paintings. Léderer owned the largest private art collection in Vienna, ranging from the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance to Art Nouveau (he fortunately did not live to see his collection stolen by the Nazis after Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. Much of the art was destroyed when the castle where the Nazis kept the paintings burnt down in the fighting at the end of the war. But even in the 21st century, pictures from the Léderer collection are still turning up.)
In addition to his extensive economic and artistic activities, he also found time for charitable work, supporting the poor and refugees during World War I. At the outbreak of the war, he approached the mayor of Győr and asked him to be contacted if the city needed anything. In addition, he set up a foundation in Vienna to support disabled soldiers, with a capital of 200,000 crowns.
After the war, the family lived in Vienna, but Ágoston Léderer had many business ties to Hungary, especially to Győr. Here he continued to do considerable charitable work, donating 100,000,000 crowns in 1924 on behalf of the distillery to help the poor of the city. The city council used the money to buy clothing for them, including 240 pairs of shoes for 20 million crowns.
The extent of his wealth is shown by the fact that during the Great Depression he was able to obtain relatively easily a huge loan, which he needed because in 1931 the Ausspitz-Lieben und Co. The main owner of the bank was Ágoston Léderer, and Léderer had a bill of exchange of USD 375 000 with this bank, which the bank called in. Léderer then applied for a bridging loan from his major foreign creditors, including banks in Switzerland and Vienna. A consortium was formed to secure the loan, including the Pesti Hazai Takarékpénztár Egyesület. The creditors concluded that, as Léderer's assets amounted to USD 4.5 million, a loan of USD 1.5 million could be safely secured.
The life of Ágoston Léderer was made difficult by his son, Frigyes. The boy was fond of throwing money around, including playing cards. It was from this that Gyula Szemző, who was tried and convicted by the Léderers for gambling, exploded a bomb in 1922 at the gate of Ágoston Léderer's house in Bartensteingasse, Vienna,
Léderer's name and money were known all over Europe, and his son Frederick took advantage of this, getting involved in strange business deals as well as gambling, and being sued for fraud. Not only did Frederick buy jewels and lose at gambling (as many other wealthy heirs around the world did), but he also went into 'business' where he made serious losses. For example, he once bought 150 expensive coffins and then resold them at a discount. It also hit the Hungarian press in 1928, when it was revealed that Frigyes Léderer had defaulted on his debt of 3 million schillings to Ágoston Léderer, although he had been paying off his various bills of exchange and bills of exchange, fearing a scandal. In 1928, however, Ágoston Léderer 'took his hands off' his son, against whom the Paris police issued an arrest warrant and arrested him, although he did not completely abandon his son, as the father's lawyers protected him.
Ágoston Léderer died in Vienna on 30 April 1936. The Hungarian Economy's obituary of 7 May 1936 thus bade farewell to the king of spirits:
"In addition to running his businesses, he had a special love of all the arts, of which he was a generous patron. He was also famous as a collector. His outlook on life, his every action, showed a social conscience and charity. He is mourned by his colleagues and employees as an understanding and kindly boss. He was laid to rest in Vienna in the Hietzing cemetery with great condolence. His passing is also a great loss to Hungarian economic life."
Points of interest
In 1932, the Hungarian press reported that Ágoston Léderer's sister Karolina (married name Karolina Mendel) was accused by the Vienna police of being the head of a foreign currency smuggling gang. Mendel Karolina was questioned several times and even searched. It later emerged that Karolina Mendel was only a distant relative of the Seskirina, not her sister.
Literature:
Artmagazine online, 2022-01-29
Workshop 2021 issue 5-6
Born: 3 May 1857.
Place of birth: Böhmisch-Leipa
Date of death: 7 May 1936.
Place of death: Hannover
Occupation: factory founder, factory manager
Parents:
Spouses: 1892-Serena Pulitzer
Children: Eric, Friedrich (Frigyes), Elisabeth
Author: by Domonkos Csaba
Born: 3 May 1857.
Place of birth: Böhmisch-Leipa
Date of death: 7 May 1936.
Place of death: Hannover
Occupation: factory founder, factory manager
Parents:
Spouses: 1892-Serena Pulitzer
Children: Eric, Friedrich (Frigyes), Elisabeth
Author: by Domonkos Csaba
Ágoston Léderer
August Lederer
*charcoal on paper
*46.1 x 29.6 cm
*signed b.r: EGON / SCHIELE / 1918
Ágoston Léderer must have inherited a lot from his father, since his father Ignác Léderer was also a distiller, so it is no coincidence that Ágoston, or rather August, also worked in this industry after finishing his studies, being the first to work in the family factory. But managing and taking over the family business was not enough for him, he wanted much more.
Ágoston Léderer was born in the Czech Republic on 3 May 1857. He was educated in Vienna, and as the Hungarian Economy newspaper wrote on his death on 7 May 1936, Léderer "as a young man, in partnership with the engineer Philip Porges, he founded the cutting and machine factory Léderer and Porges in Königsfeld, Brno, which grew into a very serious and important company. Subsequently he founded the Austrian Railway Traffic Ltd. in Vienna, the Hungarian Railway Traffic Ltd. in Budapest, the Aussiliara Traffic Ltd. in Milan and the German Railway Traffic Ltd. in Berlin."
He was passionate about setting up companies, but not only these, as he also traded internationally in molasses. Within the Monarchy, he found a home for a time in Győr, where he founded the Hungarian Waggon and Machine Works Limited Company and the Accumulator Factory Ltd.
He also presided over a number of factories, some of them in Győr, such as the Distillery and Refinery Ltd, but he had interests in many other distilleries within the Monarchy. It was no coincidence that he was called Spirituszkirály at the time of his death. Although he was born in the Czech Republic, his real home was Győr and Vienna. It was here that he married Serena Pulitzer, 10 years his junior, in 1892, and the ceremony was conducted by the Chief Rabbi of the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest.
The 90% of the Győr Distillery and Refinery Ltd. was owned by the family, which he transformed into a kind of family business. He was able to buy the otherwise well-established plant relatively cheaply in 1895, as it was not very profitable due to poor marketing. Léderer managed the factory himself, first through directors and then from 1911, when the former director died, and even moved his family into the director's apartment in the factory.
Initially, Léderer's ownership in the Magyar Waggon und Gépárgyár in Győr was equally dominant, but here his shares were sold by Ágoston Léderer to Wiener Bankverein in 1907.
He and his family not only moved to Győr but also became Hungarian citizens, but after World War I they moved to the Austrian capital.
Besides founding and managing his companies, he was very interested in art, and his wife was his partner in this. Not only did they buy works of art, but he was a patron of two of the most prominent Austrian painters of the time, Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. It was no coincidence that Klimt painted Serena and her mother, Ágoston Léderer's mother-in-law, and the couple's daughter, and even one room in their Vienna apartment was decorated solely with Klimt paintings. Léderer owned the largest private art collection in Vienna, ranging from the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance to Art Nouveau (he fortunately did not live to see his collection stolen by the Nazis after Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. Much of the art was destroyed when the castle where the Nazis kept the paintings burnt down in the fighting at the end of the war. But even in the 21st century, pictures from the Léderer collection are still turning up.)
In addition to his extensive economic and artistic activities, he also found time for charitable work, supporting the poor and refugees during World War I. At the outbreak of the war, he approached the mayor of Győr and asked him to be contacted if the city needed anything. In addition, he set up a foundation in Vienna to support disabled soldiers, with a capital of 200,000 crowns.
After the war, the family lived in Vienna, but Ágoston Léderer had many business ties to Hungary, especially to Győr. Here he continued to do considerable charitable work, donating 100,000,000 crowns in 1924 on behalf of the distillery to help the poor of the city. The city council used the money to buy clothing for them, including 240 pairs of shoes for 20 million crowns.
The extent of his wealth is shown by the fact that during the Great Depression he was able to obtain relatively easily a huge loan, which he needed because in 1931 the Ausspitz-Lieben und Co. The main owner of the bank was Ágoston Léderer, and Léderer had a bill of exchange of USD 375 000 with this bank, which the bank called in. Léderer then applied for a bridging loan from his major foreign creditors, including banks in Switzerland and Vienna. A consortium was formed to secure the loan, including the Pesti Hazai Takarékpénztár Egyesület. The creditors concluded that, as Léderer's assets amounted to USD 4.5 million, a loan of USD 1.5 million could be safely secured.
The life of Ágoston Léderer was made difficult by his son, Frigyes. The boy was fond of throwing money around, including playing cards. It was from this that Gyula Szemző, who was tried and convicted by the Léderers for gambling, exploded a bomb in 1922 at the gate of Ágoston Léderer's house in Bartensteingasse, Vienna,
Léderer's name and money were known all over Europe, and his son Frederick took advantage of this, getting involved in strange business deals as well as gambling, and being sued for fraud. Not only did Frederick buy jewels and lose at gambling (as many other wealthy heirs around the world did), but he also went into 'business' where he made serious losses. For example, he once bought 150 expensive coffins and then resold them at a discount. It also hit the Hungarian press in 1928, when it was revealed that Frigyes Léderer had defaulted on his debt of 3 million schillings to Ágoston Léderer, although he had been paying off his various bills of exchange and bills of exchange, fearing a scandal. In 1928, however, Ágoston Léderer 'took his hands off' his son, against whom the Paris police issued an arrest warrant and arrested him, although he did not completely abandon his son, as the father's lawyers protected him.
Ágoston Léderer died in Vienna on 30 April 1936. The Hungarian Economy's obituary of 7 May 1936 thus bade farewell to the king of spirits:
"In addition to running his businesses, he had a special love of all the arts, of which he was a generous patron. He was also famous as a collector. His outlook on life, his every action, showed a social conscience and charity. He is mourned by his colleagues and employees as an understanding and kindly boss. He was laid to rest in Vienna in the Hietzing cemetery with great condolence. His passing is also a great loss to Hungarian economic life."
Points of interest
In 1932, the Hungarian press reported that Ágoston Léderer's sister Karolina (married name Karolina Mendel) was accused by the Vienna police of being the head of a foreign currency smuggling gang. Mendel Karolina was questioned several times and even searched. It later emerged that Karolina Mendel was only a distant relative of the Seskirina, not her sister.
Literature:
Artmagazine online, 2022-01-29
Workshop 2021 issue 5-6