The Schnell Family

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0	A quick ascent Climbing the social ladder under the New Regime In 1798, the Old Regime came to an end in the Canton of Bern. The new political order offered new opportunities, and more than one family, like the Schnell family from Burgdorf, seized the opportunity to climb up the social ladder. Originally active in the local metal industry, they expanded, creating a general trading company and their own brewery. However, their success was somewhat predictable, since the Schnells were already a prominent bourgeois family in the 18th century. The objects shown here belong to the Rittersaalverein collection.
1	What goes up must come down Disaster strikes the 4th generation of Schnells Johann Jakob Schnell was a swordsmith in Burgdorf. Around 1750 he also began trading in imported goods. His son Samuel was already working in trade, dealing in agricultural land and buildings as well as selling “wholesale and retail” Swiss and foreign products. The new commercial freedoms available under the New Regime quickened their rise to prominence. In the 1820s, under Franz Jakob, the Joh. Jak. Schnell Company reached its height. Franz Jakob was the richest inhabitant of Burgdorf when he died in 1860, and he left a vast fortune to his only son Franz. Franz built a large mansion, and he and his family were accustomed to a lavish lifestyle. But when he started an export beer brewery business he soon overstretched himself financially. By the time he died in 1888, the Schnell family business was bankrupt and his widow Charlotte had to leave Burgdorf.
2	In the china shop Since Franz Schnell had no desire to marry a local woman, he travelled extensively in search of a wife. In 1866, at the age of 27, he married Charlotte Drees, the daughter of a rich apothecary owner in Hanover. Back in Burgdorf, Schnell was proud of his cosmopolitan reputation. He commissioned a house in the new Rococo style, surrounded by an English-style landscaped estate. Later he added a stable – after all, how can an stylish man live without horses? France was Schnell’s inspiration in all matters of taste. He absolutely had to have a Limoges porcelain service. One can only hope that the governess taught good manners to his children Hans and Charlotte!
3	Quick, a beer! Franz Schnell was eager to be a successful entrepreneur in his own right, and in 1870 he had a brewery built not far from his mansion. The large brewery used the latest technology and employed German maltsters and brewers. The brewery produced up to 4 million litres of beer per year. The barrels should be delivered promptly to their clients. Franz persuaded the railway planners to run the new railway line to Langnau past his brewery. As early as 1881, the brewery was already sending beer to warehouses in Brussels, Paris, Marseilles and Milan.
4	Bankrupt! Franz Schnell overextended himself with his brewery. Although the business was going well, he was increasingly debt-ridden. On top of his debt problems, one of his suppliers swindled him. In order to build the brewery, he had been obliged to take out a loan and mortgage his entire fortune. Ultimately, the whole family was placed under financial supervision, a source of great distress to Franz. He fell ill and died in 1888, at the age of only 48. The company went bankrupt, and his heirs were forced to sell his land. His creditors took over the brewery business under the name Actienbrauerei Steinhof, which was then taken over by Löwenbrau Burgdorf AG until 1921. The premises were later used as a warehouse. Today, the former brewery is home to a number of stylish apartments…
5	Moving on New transport opportunities in the 19th century It became easier in the 19th century to relocate or marry beyond cantonal and national borders. Many merchants, intellectuals, architects and teachers moved from Germany to Burgdorf. They would gather at the German Club but they soon became Bernese citizens and involved themselves in local politics. Serving in the military also gave them the opportunity to climb the social ladder.
6	An art lover and philanthropist Jakob Rudolf Schnell took full advantage of the new freedom of trade introduced by the new Helvetic Republic in 1798. Although he started out working in his father’s business, he went on to open his own brewery at the age of 22. Already a successful businessman, the young Jakob Rudolf went to Paris to study, where he was soon introduced to both art and women. There, he met his beloved wife, Victoria Guberna, originally from Malta. Living in Paris and Florence, Schnell made his fortune as a banker and art dealer. The childless couple spent their later years in Paris, but maintained ties to their homeland by founding the Viktoria boarding school for girls in Köniz near Bern. Schnell also established a scholarship for disadvantaged students, which the young people of Burgdorf benefit from to this day.
7	Full integration After relocating from Württemberg to Burgdorf, Ludwig Fromm found employment in the trading company Joh. Jak. Schnell. But before he could marry his employer’s sister, Charlotte Schnell, in 1814, he had to become a Swiss citizen. Ludwig entered into partnerships with several businesses in Burgdorf and bought the Lochbach baths as well as two local farms. He also played a part in founding the first bank in Burgdorf, going on to become its director. Politically, Fromm was a liberal like the Schnell family. The new liberal cantonal constitution of 1831 forced the patrician government to step down. The political communes were created and Fromm became the first mayor of Burgdorf. He went on to become a cantonal councillor and then prefect of the Burgdorf district.
8	Possibly some Goethe, definitely both girls and beer. “Come to Burgdorf. I swear you will find the prettiest girls and the best beer” writes Goethe in “Faust”. Was he right? It’s possible that Goethe did indeed taste some of Burgdorf’s beer. His trip to Switzerland in 1779 brought him to the region and Burgdorf was already known for its breweries. There are, however, at least eight different towns bearing the name Burgdorf. Ferdinand Meyer-Bissig sought to prove Goethe right and in 1813 he bought the oldest brewery in Burgdorf. Like so many young German merchants, he moved to Switzerland in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars. There, he married Antonia Elisabeth Bissig from Einsiedeln, who had moved to Burgdorf because of Pestalozzi.
9	Friend of the people, fear of the people Educating the modern citizen A modern state needed well-informed citizens (although female citizens were not yet taken into account). Famous figures such as the educator Henri Pestalozzi or the writer Jeremias Gotthelf were campaigning for good schools. Newspapers such as the “Berner Volksfreund”, published and printed in Burgdorf from 1831 onwards, argued in favour of adult education. This was not to everyone’s liking, as an article from 1812 on “the imaginary fear of more diversity in education” shows.
10	A Newspaper for Liberals The many Germans in Burgdorf were for the most part liberals. The “Berner Volksfreund”, founded by three Schnell brothers and printed by their rich cousin, gave them a voice. It counted Albert Bitzius, a priest from Lützelflüh, amongst its authors. Bitzius published his short stories in Burgdorf with the printer Carl Langlois, using the pseudonym Jeremias Gotthelf.
11	The delights of the nouveau riche The new elite display their wealth Industrialization gave rise to a new social class in the 19th century: the bourgeoisie. This new elite imitated the aristocratic old elite, building fashionable houses surrounded by splendid grounds, becoming patrons of the arts, owning elegant horses and treating their dogs as if they were a part of the family. Franz Schnell-Drees (1839-1888) provides an excellent example of this new social class.
12	Art in Burgdorf Franz Schnell held concerts in his house. Many of the musicians playing in the orchestra were his friends, and he bought the instruments at his own expense. He hired professional musicians but occasionally enjoyed playing first violin. Schnell was also fascinated by the visual arts and had his circle of friends painted by Frank Buchser. The 1865 painting remains unfinished. It shows the violinist Alfred Eisentraut and the music director Agathon Billeter.
13	Dog Lovers The bourgeoisie considered their dogs to be a part of the family. Here, Victoire Schnell poses with her greyhound in 1852, shortly before her marriage. However, the marriage was not to be and the beautiful young lady died two weeks before her wedding day. The groom was left alone with the dog – and with this painting. The Schnell & Schneckenburger iron and bronze foundry produced small sculptures and its most successful sculpture was the one depicting a greyhound. Johann Ludwig Schnell, the owner of the foundry, commissioned a portrait of his grandchildren with his dogs Schallmann and Leo.
14	Louis XV table (18th century). This table once stood in the residence of the Bernese bailiffs in Thorberg.
15	Porcelain dinner service, 1866. The service was designed for 24 guests and is decorated with the letters “F C S” for Franz and Charlotte Schnell-Drees.
16	Chest of drawers, circa 1860/70, made in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Such pieces were very much in fashion at the time.
17	Chest bearing the coats of arms of different Solothurn families, including the Vigier family, 1628. Victor de Vigier was betrothed to Victoire Schnell. After her death, the chest remained in the Schnell family home.
18	Joseph Nieriker: Schnell mansion. Watercolour, 1867. The then new mansion is now situated at Bernstrasse 55.
19	Franz Schnell (1839 – 1888) and Charlotte Drees (born 1841), wedding photos dating from 1866.
20	Pictures of the Schnell-Drees family, 1870 – 1878. The pictures show Hans (1869-1889) and Charlotte Mathilde (1872-1959) with their mother Charlotte and a nursemaid.
21	Silver money boxes, 19th century. Rosina and Franz Jakob Schnell-Rothpletz gave their children Victoire and Franz these money boxes for their first birthday.
22	Sword, 18th century. In 1750, Johann Jakob Schnell, the founder of the Schnell trading company, was a swordsmith in Burgdorf.
23	J. F. Wagner: View of Burgdorf. Lithograph, 1844. Pictured in the middle are the Hofgut and other Schnell family buildings on Bernstrasse.
24	Friedrich Walthard: Rosina Schnell (1803-1855), née Rothpletz d’Aarau, and Franz Jakob Schnell (1789-1860).
25	Invoice for sugar and coffee from Johann Jakob Schnell-Heggi to Emanuel Grimm, 1765. Grimm, a pâté producer, was also the first brewer in Burgdorf.
26	Invoice from the trading company Joh. Jak. Schnell for cocoa, coffee, confectionary sugar, cinnamon, tobacco, cloth, threads and buttons, 1782.
27	Invoice from the Steinhof Brewery to Mrs. Schoch-Ruef for 20 litres of bottled beer, 1878.
28	The new 1835 Bernese thaler mounted on a silver box. This box belonged to the Dutch branch of the Schnell family, and served as a reminder of the family’s origins.
29	Beer tankard, 1862, bearing the name of its owner Franz Schnell.
30	Beer bottle label for the Steinhof brewery in Burgdorf, Bern warehouse, ca. 1880.
31	Advertising poster for Löwenbräu Burgdorf-Steinhof, the successor to Franz Schnell’s brewery, 1905.
32	Steinhof brewery cellar, photographed by Mr. Kopp around 1880.
33	Steinhof brewery advertising poster, featuring the Burgdorf – Langnau railway line, 1880s.
34	Inventory of the estate of Jakob Schnell-Rothpletz, who died in 1860. This inventory provides a valuable insight into a bourgeois household of the time. The crockery used on the farms is estimated at 10 centimes per piece, the porcelain dishes at 300 francs and the silver tableware and cutlery at 1675.40.
35	Franz Schnell on his deathbed, April 1, 1888, photographed by Ludwig Bechstein from Burgdorf. Obituary notice, April 3, 1888.
36	The widow Charlotte Schnell-Drees invites to the marriage of her daughter Charlotte Mathilde and the professor of medicine Heinrich Reinhold in Hanover.
37	The former Schnell mansion at Bernstrasse 55, photographed in 2019.
38	The former Frommgut at Oberburgstrasse 1, photographed in 2019.
39	View of the upper town of Burgdorf. Lithography, 1855. On the left is the Frommgut. The building with the long roof is the farmhouse built by Robert Roller for Ludwig Fromm-Schnell around 1845.
40	J. F. Wagner: View of Burgdorf, Lithography, 1844. On the right is the mansion “Im Garten” on the Gsteighügel. It was built in 1842 by Robert Roller for the merchant Ferdinand Meyer-Bissig.
41	Photograph of Ludwig Fromm (1787-1846) in silhouette. Fromm was Charlotte Schnell’s husband and the brother-in-law of Franz Jakob, his junior manager at the trading company.
42	Second lieutenant Ludwig Fromm’s certificate as a Landwehr officer of the Bernese council of war, 1815/16.
43	Silhouette of Franz Jakob Schnell, probably on the occasion of his marriage to Rosina Rothpletz in 1821.
44	Johann Jakob Schnell’s certificate of appointment as a second lieutenant, 1810.
45	Photo of a portrait of Ferdinand Meyer-Bissig (1784-1851).
46	Meyer’s brewery and vinegar factory letterhead. Meyer also opened a candle factory and a soap factory.
47	Miniature portrait of Jakob Rudolf Schnell (1778-1856), older brother of the merchant Franz Jakob.
48	Miniature portrait of Victoria Guberna (1789-1852) of Malta, wife of Jakob Rudolf Schnell and godmother of Victoire Schnell.
50	Franz Schnell’s certificate of appointment as artillery captain on behalf of the Federal Council, 1866.
51	Franz Schnell as captain, photographed in 1866 at his wedding in Hanover.
52	Franz Schnell’s certificate of appointment of the Directorate of Military Affairs for the Canton of Bern as the first second lieutenant of the artillery company, 1862.
53	Franz Schnell as lieutenant, 1865.
54	Franz Schnell’s certificate of appointment as artillery major on behalf of the Federal Council.
55	Franz Schnell as a major, 1872.
56	Franz Schnell’s calling card, 1872.
57	Franz Schnell’s major insignia.
58	Adolf Spiess: Burgdorf Castle, 1833. The printing house built by Franz Jakob Schnell can be seen on the left.
59	Carl Doerr: Northern view of the city of Burgdorf (from the Gyrisberg). Aquatint, 1810.
60	Carl Doerr: Southern view of the city of Burgdorf (from Oberburg). Aquatint, 1810.
61	Bernese Civil Code, drafted by law professor Samuel Ludwig Schnell, Franz Jakob’s elder brother. Printed in 1825.
62	Terracotta bust of Albert Bitzius (Jeremias Gotthelf), 1850s.
63	The “Berner Volksfreund” February 16 edition, 1832.
64	“A History of Burgdorf and its Surroundings” by Johann Rudolph Aeschlimann. The work appeared thirty years after Aeschlimann’s death, from 1847 to 1850, and was financed by Franz Jakob Schnell.
65	Clarinets in B flat and A, 1820s, Paris. The instruments were played in Franz Schnell’s private orchestra.
66	Violin, circa 1800. Franz Schnell probably played a similar violin in the 1860s.
67	Conductor’s baton, 1875. Given by the Burgdorf choir to the conductor Agathon Billeter.
68	Frank Buchser: Unfinished painting of Franz Schnell’s friends, his horses and one of his dogs, 1865. Schnell commissioned this painting but a disagreement over the price meant that Buchser never finished it. On loan from the city of Burgdorf.
69	Heinrich Guyer: The Schnell-Rothpletz family with a young Victoire, Gouache, 1835.
70	Victoire Schnell with her greyhound. Daguerrotypie (photograph) of a painted portrait, 1852.
71	Franz Schnell in the saddle at the entrance to his mansion, circa 1875.
72	Albert Walch: Brothers Karl and Rudolf Schnell with Leo, their St-Bernard, 1855.
73	Albert Walch: Clara and Alfred Schnell with Schallmann, their greyhound, 1855.
74	Bronze greyhound based on a design by Jules Mène, circa 1855/60. The Schnell & Schneckenburger Foundry in Burgdorf-Oberburg.
75	A serious fire in Burgdorf. Colour lithograph by J. Nieriker, 1865. On 21 July 1865, a large part of the upper town of Burgdorf burnt down. The proceeds from the sale of this lithograph went to the victims. Franz Schnell donated a new church bell to the parish.