Caspar Ludwig Opländer
The Founder
Company sign: “Louis Opländer Dortmund. Copper- and brassware factory, Mechanical engineering. Specialty: Installations for breweries, distilleries, fuel and chemical factories.”
Caspar Ludwig Opländer settled in Dortmund in 1872, got married and, as a master coppersmith, founded the ‘Louis Opländer Kupfer- und Messingwarenfabrik’ copper- and brassware factory. With his drive, discipline and, above all, his technical craft expertise, he built a successful craft business. He sold distillation plants from Dortmund across large parts of the Münster region, where some remained in operation until 1950.
Dortmund, then a rising industrial and beer city, offered a lucrative business base for all kinds of copper and brass work – such as that used in breweries. As a result of industrialisation and growing prosperity towards the end of the 19th century, demand for distilleries and breweries also rose sharply. The Ruhr region’s booming cities brought a surge in residential construction, which also meant more taps and corresponding demand for inlet and drain pipes.
Wilhelmine Gertrud Caroline Opländer
Caspar Ludwig Opländer’s family had eight children. At the age of 20, the eldest son Karl Wilhelm Ludwig, known as ‘Louis’, was already successfully running the business alongside his mother, Wilhelmine Gertrud Caroline. He took over following the untimely death of his father, who passed away at the age of 46. Wilhelmine proved to be an exceptionally energetic, strong and enterprising leader, who, together with her son Louis, continued to run the factory conscientiously and successfully. She lived to the proud age of 80, a remarkable age for that time. Her household account book, which still exists, bears witness to the precision with which every single penny was accounted for.
As Louis took over his father’s business at a surprisingly early age, he was unable to complete his engineering degree in Hanover. His seven siblings also received a good vocational education, something that was by no means a given at the time.
