1. Ludwig Nissen was a New York gemstone dealer and philanthropist.
23 Facts About Ludwig Nissen
1. 2.
Ludwig Nissen lived in Brooklyn for many years and was well known in the Brooklyn community, particularly for the lavish mansion he built on St Mark's Avenue.
3.
Ludwig Nissen is known for founding the Nordsee Museum in Husum, Germany.
4.
On September 11,1872 Ludwig Nissen arrived at his new home.
5.
Ludwig Nissen first settled in the neighborhood known as "Little Germany," in Manhattan.
6.
Ludwig Nissen then worked at a hotel, as a shoe shiner, waiter, cashier, and accountant, before eventually opening a German restaurant with a man from Hamburg.
7.
Ludwig Nissen got his American citizenship in 1879, and sold the restaurant to become a merchant.
8.
In May 1881, Ludwig Nissen opened the jewelry shop "Schilling and Ludwig Nissen" with the Hamburg diamond setter Fred Schilling.
9.
Ludwig Nissen was burdened with debts, but had a quick upswing.
10.
Ludwig Nissen moved his business to the most prestigious street in New York, Fifth Avenue.
11.
Ludwig Nissen became involved in the New York jeweler's trade union, and became its treasurer in 1891.
12.
Ludwig Nissen founded the Jewelers Protective Association to fight unfair competition, and to counter smuggling, which often occurred when rich Americans traveled to Europe and tried to bring the jewels they had purchased there home without declaring them to customs.
13.
For more than thirty years, Ludwig Nissen demonstrated an active interest in public and economic affairs.
14.
Ludwig Nissen became friendly with Roosevelt while he was Police Commissioner of New York, and the two men stayed in touch until Roosevelt's death in 1919.
15.
Ludwig Nissen became an American through and through, and served his new home country well.
16.
On December 27,1882 Ludwig Nissen married the native-born New Yorker Katharine Quick.
17.
Ludwig Nissen's mother was from Switzerland and her father was from Darmstadt.
18.
Ludwig Nissen had Anglicized his family name "Schnell" to "Quick" upon his emigration to the United States.
19.
The museum in Husum holds both a photograph of that experience and the redwood walking stick that Ludwig Nissen brought home as a souvenir.
20.
In 1906, Ludwig Nissen acquired a plot of land near his Dean Street home at 810 St Mark's Avenue.
21.
About 50 years after his emigration, in 1920, Ludwig Nissen went back to Husum for the first time.
22.
On October 26,1924 Ludwig Nissen died at his home in Brooklyn.
23.
Ludwig Nissen established the town of Husum as heir to his fortune of 2.5 million Deutsche Marks, and dictated in his will that his legacy was intended primarily for the construction of the museum and related cultural purposes.