Friedrich Wilhelm Retz

Friedrich Wilhelm Retz
Citizenship	German
Occupation(s)	Businessman, Diplomat Watchmaker
Known for	Founder of Retz & Co.

Friedrich Wilhelm Retz (born March 29, 1845 in Neuenstadt; died June 16, 1923 in Yokohama) was a German entrepreneur in the early days of Meiji Era in Japan and honorary consul for Holland, Norway and Sweden.

Friedrich Wilhelm Retz was one of the most important western personalities during the Meiji Era.

Career overview

Friedrich Wilhelm Retz arrived in Japan in October of 1872 and worked for a Swiss watchmaking company Schwartz & Co. based in Yokohama and owned by watchmaker Eulogius Schwartz.

After just two years, he founded his own company in 1874 under the name "F.Retz & Co.", also based in Yokohama. Retz began importing watches from Swiss manufactures and retailing them in Japan. The business developed well due to high demand and when Schwartz gave up his business in 1876, Retz took over his sales area in Yokohama.

In 1881 he began expanding his operations into different trading businesses renaming his company "Retz, Gröhser & Co". Amongst other deals, he became the general representative of the Actien beer brewery Coburg for Japan. His brother Carl Ludwig Retz managed the brewery in Coburg as a master brewer. Another venture in which Retz invested was the steam shipping business, acting as an agent for the Austro-Hungarian Lloyds steam shipping company. With this partnership he pursued the goal of being able to establish himself in the field of overseas export-import business between Swiss-Hungary-Austria and Japan.

Since the branch of business developed well as a representative in the beer brewing business, from 1882 onwards the Löwenbrauerei Freiburg and in 1887 the Radbrauerei Aalen became contractual partners, Friedrich Wilhelm Retz planned together with his buddy Carl Ludwig around 1891 to set up his own brewery in Yokohama. However, the steps taken shortly after to open a malt house, as the starting point for this goal, already failed, as the Japanese beer manufacturer Brewery & Co. was pushing more and more onto the market. After further steps of expansion in other industries did not bring the expected success either, Retz separated from its partners in 1892 and returned to its original company name Retz & Co. This step was also connected with a change of residence within Yokohama, because when his wife returned to Japan, the previously used commercial building in the Nak-ku district became too small. The main business of the company was still in the area of ​​watches and jewelry. In 1891 he bought Fritz Denni's watch factory in La Caux-de-Fonds (Neuchâtel), Switzerland. Since Retz was now able to concentrate more clearly on the related branch focuses, he opened a branch of his company in Kobe in 1895. He put the management of the business area in the hands of Wilhelm Retz, the son of his brother Wilhelm. He promptly acquired a villa in In 1891 he bought Fritz Denni's watch factory in La Caux-de-Fonds (Neuchâtel), Switzerland. Since Retz was now able to concentrate more clearly on the related branch focuses, he opened a branch of his company in Kobe in 1895. He put the management of the business area in the hands of Wilhelm Retz, the son of his brother Wilhelm. He promptly acquired a villa in In 1891 he bought Fritz Denni's watch factory in La Caux-de-Fonds (Neuchâtel), Switzerland. Since Retz was now able to concentrate more clearly on the related branch focuses, he opened a branch of his company in Kobe in 1895. He put the management of the business area in the hands of Wilhelm Retz, the son of his brother Wilhelm. He promptly acquired a villa in Kamakura , which now served the family as a second home, to escape the ever-growing city of Yokohama if necessary. They stayed here very often as a family. Nevertheless, Retz always remained an active member of the "Yokohama community". His special merits were that he was actively involved in the development of the German School of Yokohama for many years. In addition, he was one of the active members of the German Society for German Society for Natural History and Ethnology of East Asia (OAG), which was particularly important to him because of the communicative exchange and the opportunities to meet personalities from politics, business and international networks. [4]

With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, Friedrich Wilhelm Retz saw his responsibility in making a personal contribution to Japan. He supported the work of the Japanese Red Cross with financial means. During the war, Retz had Karl Anton von Hohenzollern (1868-1919) and Major Friedrich Bronsart von Schellendorf, who were German military observers in Japan(1864–1950), with whom he was friends, as guests in his house. For this financial aid he was awarded the Cross of Merit of the Organization of the Japanese Red Cross after the war. With the onset of quieter times for economic and trade relations, Retz took over responsibility for the consulates of Holland, Norway and Sweden in Japan in addition to his own business activities from February 1905. In recognition of his services in strengthening business relations between the countries, he received the distinction of "Ridder van Oranja-Nassau" in 1908 and, almost at the same time, the "Prussian Order of the Crown, 3rd Class" in recognition of his commitment to Germany.[5]

In the 1920s, Friedrich Wilhelm Retz fell ill and died on June 16, 1923 in Yokohama after a serious illness. [6] He was buried in the Yokohama Foreigners Cemetery.

Family

Friedrich Wilhelm Retz married Adelheid nee Vanek in 1854, from Budapest (Hungary), who also lived in Yokohama and with whom he had four children: Adele Marie (born in 1875), Luise (born in 1876), Friedrich Wilhelm Karl (born in 1891) and Paula Sophie (born in 1882), all of whom were born in Yokohama. Shortly after the birth of their fourth child, Adelheid Retz, or Adele as she was called, the family traveled to Germany in 1883 but would ultimately return back to Yokohama in 1892. His daughter Paula Sophie (1882–1964) married Richard Schmidt-Scharff (1871–1954), a businessman in Japan, in 1905.

Honors

In 1890, Friedrich Wilhelm Retz was appointed knight of the Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph.

Books

• Nana Miyata: Dr. Hans Kühne, deutscher Konsul in Yokohama 1908–1914 und die OAG. Mitteilungen der OAG Nr. 6/2018;
• Biografische Daten über Friedrich Retz, OAG, in: Archiv der OAG Nr. 1600;
• Biografie über Friedrich Wilhelm Retz, Meiji-Projekt, in: http://www.meiji-portraits.de/meiji_portraits_r.html#20090527093450609_1_2_2_46_1;