Dreyer, Ludwig

Merchant, naturalist

Born: 14.05.1841 in Edenkoben (Palatinate)

died: 15.01.1924 in Wiesbaden

Dreyer, the son of a doctor, was originally called Louis Dreyfus. After commercial training in Mannheim, Berlin and Paris, he went to South Africa in 1860. There he founded an import and export business in Port Elizabeth in 1865, which he handed over to other hands in 1873.

He moved to London and devoted himself to scientific studies. Dreyer began to collect microscopic specimens. In 1876 he married Ida Jordan. The couple converted from the Jewish to the Protestant faith and had their five children baptized. In 1882, the family moved to Wiesbaden.

Like many of the Rentiers who had become wealthy early on and settled here, Dreyer was involved in the cultural and political life of the city in many ways. He became a member of the Nassau Society for Natural History and befriended the doctor and entomologist Arnold Pagenstecher. He trained in bacteriology at the Fresenius Chemical Laboratory. In 1887, he organized an exhibition on the occasion of the meeting of the Naturalists' Assembly in Wiesbaden. He completed his doctorate with a zoological thesis on phylloxera at the University of Leipzig and became a board member of the Natural History Society.

From 1889-91 he was a member of the citizens' committee, from 1891-1919 of the city council, where he became parliamentary group leader of the National Liberals. As a city councillor, he was a member of the museum deputation and chairman of the finance committee and contributed his commercial experience. Dreyer was acquainted with the writer Gustav Freytag.

In 1894, he had his name changed to "Dreyer" - presumably in light of the Dreyfus affair in France.

In 1897, he built a lavish villa at Schubertstraße 1, which combined English country house style with historicist villa style. Stone carvings of animals such as ostriches and elephants can still be found here today, reminiscent of Dreyer's time in Africa.

He was buried in the southern cemetery. His son Wilhelm died in Buchenwald concentration camp in 1938, while his son Friedrich and his widow Ida took their own lives in 1938 and 1940 respectively.