Great Germans in St. Petersburg
Germans were the first wide-scale immigrants to arrive in St. Petersburg, many of them working as engineers, builders and craftsmen to help Peter the Great create his new city. In effect, the original bourgeoisie of St. Petersburg were predominantly German. Not far behind them came numerous German scientists in all disciplines from economics to botany, invited to the new Russian capital to help establish the Academy of Sciences.
Catherine the Great, herself German by birth, continued to employ German scientists, particularly in the natural sciences, and men such as Johann Buxbaum, Johann Georgi and Peter Simon Pallas did much of the groundwork to map Russia's rich and varied natural world.
One of St. Petersburg's greatest architects, Yury Felten was the son of a German economist and studied in Tubingen before becoming court architect to Catherine the Great, designer of numerous striking and unusual buildings in the city. »»»
Of Baltic German origin, Carl Faberge turned the family jewel business into an internationally renowned luxury brand, forever associated with the opulence of the Russian Imperial family thanks ton the intricate jewelled Easter eggs he supplied every year to the Tsars. »»»
The Poehl family came from Perleberg and established a pharmacy on Vasilevsky Island supplying medicine to the Imperial Court. The son of the founder, Alexander Poehl became a famous scientist, investigating a wide variety of fields in chemistry. »»»
An entrepreneur from Prussian Pomerania, Franz San-Galli manufactured and installed central heating systems, inventing the modern radiator. He was the owner of several famous buildings in St. Petersburg, including his mansion and factory on Ligovsky Prospekt. »»»
Born in Prussian Pomerania, Adolf Marks was the founder and proprietor of the phenomenally popular illustrated weekly journal Niva, a revolutionary publishing enterprise that printed works by many of Russia's greatest authors and poets. »»»
Carl von Siemens, brother of the inventor Werner von Siemens, established a branch of the family telegraph and electronics business in St. Petersburg. It became one of the biggest manufacturing companies in Russia, and Siemens was even raised to the Russian nobility. »»»
One of the earliest members of the Academy of Sciences, Bilfinger was a prominent follower of Gottfried Liebniz whose controversial career in St. Petersburg including designing a curriculum for the future Emperor Peter II. »»»
A native of Merseburg, Buxbaum was called to St. Petersburg by Peter the Great to manage the Apothecary's Garden (now St. Petersburg's Botanical Garden), and also gathered materials for the Kunstkammer on voyages through Asia Minor. »»»
Considered one of Russia's greatest naval heroes, von Bellingshausen was a Baltic German who participated in the first Russian circumnavigation and on a later voyage discovered the continent of Antarctica. He was also the military governor of Kronstadt for several years. »»»
One of a generation of German scientists who contributed and extraordinary amount to the chronicling the natural world of the Russian Empire, Georgi was involved in long exploratory voyages of Siberia, and wrote significant works in several scientific fields. »»»
Born in Berlin, Pallas had already won fame for his revolutionary classification system for animals before he was invited to St. Petersburg by Catherine the Great. He devoted the second half of his life to examining and describing the nature of Russia. »»»
A pioneering historian and ethnographer, Müller was a founding member of the Academy of Sciences, responsible exhaustive descriptions of the native peoples and customs of Siberia, and the first attempt to catalogue primary sources of Russian history. »»»
Hailing from the German community of the Baltic duchies, Struve is known as a pioneer of stellar astronomy who made important advances in the study of double stars. He was the founder and first director of the Pulkovo Observatory in St. Petersburg. »»»
A Baltic German who taught at several St. Petersburg schools and higher education establishments before becoming rector of St. Petersburg University, Lenz made important advances in the field of electromagnetism, and in the methodology of experiments. »»»
Born in Potsdam, von Jacobi was an architect before he began his investigation into electromagnetism. He invented the first electric motor, and was invited to Russia by Nicholas I. In St. Petersburg he continued his experiments and eventually became a naturalised Russian citizen. »»»
World renowned for his work on early embryology, von Baer was a German from Livonia (modern-day Estonia) who spent 30 years in St. Petersburg teaching at the Academy of Sciences in a variety of disciplines. »»»
The scion of a Jewish banking family in Waldeck, Stieglitz brought the family business to Russia, and eventually became banker to the Imperial Court, earning him and his even more famous son the title of the "Russian Rosthchilds". »»»
Most famous as the founder of St. Petersburg's leading art school, Baron von Stieglitz was also the first governor of the Russian State Bank, an investor in Russia's early railroads, a prominent philanthropist, and one of the richest men in the Russian Empire. »»»
An immensely gifted pianist and composer, considered a leading rival to Franz Liszt, von Henselt was unable to cope with the pressures of concert performance despite his early success, and instead became St. Petersburg's leading piano teacher, inspiring generations of Russian players. »»»
A graduate of the Berlin Academy of Art, Krüger became famous for his paintings of horses and military scenes and found great popularity as a portrait painter in St. Petersburg, creating famous portraits of the Russian Imperial family. »»»
A German military engineer who became a leading assistant to Peter the Great, von Munnich was responsible for numerous major construction projects in St. Petersburg, and went on to become one of the leading Russian statesmen of his day. »»»
