Walldorf ( German pronunciation: [ˈvalˌdɔʁf] ; South Franconian : Walldoaf ) is a town in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
36-532: In the eighteenth century, Walldorf was the birthplace of John Jacob Astor , who emigrated and became a prominent fur trader in the newly independent United States, establishing a monopoly in North America. Concentrating on real estate acquisition and investment, and based in New York City, he grew even wealthier and was the patriarch of the wealthy and influential Astor family . Walldorf is home to
72-561: A 70-acre farm on which he built the Astor Mansion at Hellgate. The property ran west of Broadway to the Hudson River between 42nd and 46th streets. That same year, and the following year, he bought considerable holdings from the disgraced Aaron Burr . In the 1830s, Astor foresaw that the next big boom would be the build-up of New York, which would soon emerge as one of the world's greatest cities. Astor sold his interests in
108-533: A business judgment that he declared better than that of most merchants. She assisted him in the practical details of his business, and managed Astor's affairs when he was away from New York. They had eight children: Astor belonged to the Freemasons , a fraternal order, and served as Master of Holland Lodge #8, New York City in 1788. Later he served as Grand Treasurer for the Grand Lodge of New York . He
144-623: A fur trader on his voyage had inspired him to join the North American fur trade as well. After working at his brother's shop for a time, Astor began to purchase raw hides from Native Americans , prepare them himself, and resell them in London and elsewhere at great profit. He opened his own fur goods shop in New York in the late 1780s and also served as the New York agent of his uncle's musical instrument business. Astor took advantage of
180-483: A museum. The 19th-century synagogue was devastated in the 1938 Kristallnacht attacks and most of the congregation was killed in the Holocaust . The building is now used as a New Apostolic Church . Walldorf is known for cultivating white asparagus , which is available in the months of April through June. John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor ; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848)
216-419: A pecuniary legacy of the deceased John Jacob Astor to his hometown. For decades, it served as an almshouse , and now hosts the register office and a museum. The 19th-century synagogue was devastated in the 1938 Kristallnacht attacks and most of the congregation was killed in the Holocaust . The building is now used as a New Apostolic Church . Walldorf is known for cultivating white asparagus , which
252-682: A quarter of a million dollars (the equivalent of 229 million dollars in 2024 ) and had become one of the leading figures in the fur trade. His agents worked throughout the western areas and were ruthless in competition. In 1800, following the example of the Empress of China , the first American trading vessel to China, Astor traded mostly opium, but also, furs, teas, and sandalwood at the port of Canton in China, and greatly benefited from it. The U.S. Embargo Act of 1807 disrupted Astor's import/export business because it closed off trade with Canada. With
288-714: A teenager and worked as a musical instrument manufacturer. He moved to the United States after the American Revolutionary War . Seeing the expansion of population to the west, Astor entered the fur trade and built a monopoly, managing a business empire that extended to the Great Lakes region and Canada , and later expanded into the American West and Pacific coast . Following a decline in demand due to changing European tastes, he got out of
324-544: Is a town in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. In the eighteenth century, Walldorf was the birthplace of John Jacob Astor , who emigrated and became a prominent fur trader in the newly independent United States, establishing a monopoly in North America. Concentrating on real estate acquisition and investment, and based in New York City, he grew even wealthier and
360-835: Is buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan. Many members of his family had joined its congregation, but Astor remained a member of the local German Reformed congregation to his death. In the short story Bartleby, the Scrivener , Herman Melville used Astor as a symbol of men who made the earliest fortunes in New York. The pair of marble lions that sit by the entrance of the New York Public Library Main Branch at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street were originally named Leo Astor and Leo Lenox, after Astor and James Lenox , who founded
396-639: Is named after Astor, as well as an elementary school named in his honor. The background to the founding of this town is described in Washington Irving's Astoria , a book whose writing was financed by Astor. The historic neighborhood of Astor Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin , is named after Astor. In 1835, John Jacob Astor founded the Town of Astor in Wisconsin. After the Town of Astor was united with
SECTION 10
#1732772452841432-603: The Astor Library for the New York public, which was later consolidated with other libraries to form the New York Public Library . He also left $ 50,000 for a poorhouse and orphanage in his German hometown of Walldorf . The Astorhaus is now operated as a museum honoring Astor. It is a renowned and popular fest hall for marriages. Astor donated gifts totaling $ 20,000 to the German Society of
468-586: The 1794 Jay Treaty between Great Britain and the United States, which opened new markets in Canada and the Great Lakes region . In London, Astor at once made a contract with the North West Company , which from Montreal rivaled the trade interests of the Hudson's Bay Company , then based in London. Astor imported furs from Montreal to New York and shipped them to Europe. By 1800, he had amassed over
504-492: The American Fur Company, as well as all his other ventures, and used the money to buy and develop large tracts of Manhattan real estate. Astor correctly predicted the city's rapid growth northward on Manhattan Island, and he purchased more and more land beyond the then-existing city limits. Astor rarely built on his land, but leased it to others for rent and their use. After retiring from his business, Astor spent
540-676: The British captured his trading posts. In 1816, he joined the opium smuggling trade . His American Fur Company purchased ten tons of Ottoman -produced opium, and shipped the contraband to Canton onboard the packet ship Macedonian . Astor later left the Chinese opium trade and sold opium solely in Britain. Astor's business rebounded in 1817 after the U.S. Congress passed a protectionist law that barred foreign fur traders from U.S. territories. The American Fur Company came to dominate trading in
576-480: The City of New York, during his term as president, from 1837 until 1841. Astor left the bulk of his fortune to his second son William, because his eldest son, John Jr., was sickly and mentally unstable. Astor left enough money to care for John Jr. for the rest of his life. William continued building the family fortune, and was an ancestor of John Jacob Astor III , John Jacob Astor IV , and John Jacob Astor VI . Astor
612-510: The Town of Navarino to form the Borough of Green Bay, one neighborhood was named after him. In 1908, when the association football club FC Astoria Walldorf was formed in Astor's birthplace in Germany, the group added "Astoria" to its name in his, and the family's, honor. Walldorf Walldorf ( German pronunciation: [ˈvalˌdɔʁf] ; South Franconian : Walldoaf )
648-807: The area around the Great Lakes, absorbing competitors in a monopoly. Astor had a townhouse at 233 Broadway in Manhattan and a country estate, Hellgate, in Northern New York City. In 1822, Astor established the Robert Stuart House on Mackinac Island in Michigan as headquarters for the reorganized American Fur Company, making the island a metropolis of the fur trade. Washington Irving described this at length, based on contemporary documents, diaries, etc., in his travelogue Astoria . Astor's commercial connections extended over
684-475: The companies Heidelberger Druckmaschinen (founded 1850) and SAP (founded 1972; moved to Walldorf in 1977) were established in Walldorf. Seats in the municipal assembly ( Gemeinderat ) as of 2019 elections: SAP SE has had its headquarters in the city since 1977. It is Europe's most valuable brand, as well as the largest non-American software enterprise by revenue. The Astorhaus was built in 1854, from
720-619: The course of the French invasion during Nine Years' War . The area was settled anew by religious refugees, among them the predecessors of John Jacob Astor, Waldensians from Piedmont . During the German Mediatisation , Walldorf fell to Baden. In 1843 the Rheintalbahn was built: this railway decisively promoted economic development. In 1901 Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden granted Walldorf town privileges. After World War II
756-498: The end of the American Revolutionary War , Astor boarded a ship for the United States, arriving in Baltimore around March of the following year. There, he rented a room from Sarah Cox Todd, a widow, and began a flirtation with his landlady's daughter, also named Sarah Cox Todd. The young couple married in 1785. His intent had been to join his brother Henry, who had established a butcher shop in New York City. A chance meeting with
SECTION 20
#1732772452841792-417: The entire globe, and his ships were found in every sea. He and Sarah moved to a townhouse on Prince Street in Manhattan, New York. Astor began buying land in New York City in 1799 and acquired sizable holdings along the waterfront. After the start of the 19th century, flush with China trade profits, he became more systematic, ambitious, and calculating by investing in New York real estate. In 1803, he bought
828-636: The first United States community on the Pacific coast. He financed the overland Astor Expedition in 1810–1812 to reach the outpost. Members of the expedition were to discover South Pass , through which hundreds of thousands of settlers on the Oregon , Mormon , and California Trails used to later pass through the Rocky Mountains . Astor's fur trading ventures were disrupted during the War of 1812 , when
864-528: The fur trade in 1830, diversifying by investing in New York City real estate. Astor was highly wealthy and became a prominent patron of the arts. In proportion to GDP, he was one of the richest people in modern history. Johann Jakob Astor was born in 1763 in Walldorf , a town near Heidelberg in the Electoral Palatinate , which is in the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg . He
900-561: The library from his own collection. Next, they were called Lord Astor and Lady Lenox (both lions are males). Mayor Fiorello La Guardia renamed them "Patience" and "Fortitude" during the Great Depression . The neighborhood of Astoria in Queens , New York City, is named after Astor. The one-block Astor Place street in Manhattan, New York City, was named after Astor, soon after his death. The coastal town of Astoria, Oregon ,
936-419: The municipal assembly ( Gemeinderat ) as of 2019 elections: SAP SE has had its headquarters in the city since 1977. It is Europe's most valuable brand, as well as the largest non-American software enterprise by revenue. The Astorhaus was built in 1854, from a pecuniary legacy of the deceased John Jacob Astor to his hometown. For decades, it served as an almshouse , and now hosts the register office and
972-574: The offices of SAP Deutschland. The earliest documentary mention of the settlement occurs as Waltorf in a 770 deed issued by the Abbey of Lorsch. The Electorate of the Palatinate received Walldorf as an Imperial fief in 1230. The town suffered much during the Thirty Years' War of 1618–1648, and in 1689 was completely destroyed in the course of the French invasion during Nine Years' War . The area
1008-665: The permission of President Thomas Jefferson , Astor established the American Fur Company on April 6, 1808. He later formed subsidiaries: the Pacific Fur Company , and the Southwest Fur Company (in which Canadians had a part), in order to control fur trading in the Great Lakes areas and Columbia River region. His Columbia River trading post at Fort Astoria (established in April 1811) was
1044-416: The rest of his life as a patron of culture. He supported the ornithologist John James Audubon in his studies, artwork, and travels, and the presidential campaign of Henry Clay . On September 19, 1785, Astor married Sarah Cox Todd (April 9, 1762 – August 3, 1842). Her parents were Scottish immigrants Adam Todd and Sarah Cox. Although she brought him a dowry of only $ 300, she possessed a frugal mind and
1080-479: The two towns. Hallstatt-culture barrows are preserved in the Hochholz woods, near the offices of SAP Deutschland. The earliest documentary mention of the settlement occurs as Waltorf in a 770 deed issued by the Abbey of Lorsch. The Electorate of the Palatinate received Walldorf as an Imperial fief in 1230. The town suffered much during the Thirty Years' War of 1618–1648, and in 1689 was completely destroyed in
1116-403: The world's fifth largest software company, SAP . The neighbouring town to the southeast is Wiesloch . The towns are strongly linked economically. Adjacent municipalities are Sandhausen , Leimen , Nußloch , St. Leon-Rot and Reilingen . The train station, named Wiesloch-Walldorf , is located between the two towns. Hallstatt-culture barrows are preserved in the Hochholz woods, near
Walldorf - Misplaced Pages Continue
1152-507: Was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly , by exporting opium into China, and by investing in real estate in or around New York City . He was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi- millionaire in the United States. Born in Germany , Astor immigrated to England as
1188-579: Was president of the German Society of the City of New York from 1837 to 1841. At the time of his death in 1848, Astor was the wealthiest person in the United States, leaving an estate estimated to be worth at least $ 20 million, or 0.9% of estimated US GDP at the time, which is equivalent to $ 598 million in 2020. By comparison, the fortune of Jeff Bezos was worth approximately $ 200 billion in 2020, similar to Astor at approximately 0.9% of US GDP. In his will, Astor bequeathed $ 400,000 to build
1224-514: Was settled anew by religious refugees, among them the predecessors of John Jacob Astor, Waldensians from Piedmont . During the German Mediatisation , Walldorf fell to Baden. In 1843 the Rheintalbahn was built: this railway decisively promoted economic development. In 1901 Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden granted Walldorf town privileges. After World War II the companies Heidelberger Druckmaschinen (founded 1850) and SAP (founded 1972; moved to Walldorf in 1977) were established in Walldorf. Seats in
1260-403: Was the patriarch of the wealthy and influential Astor family . Walldorf is home to the world's fifth largest software company, SAP . The neighbouring town to the southeast is Wiesloch . The towns are strongly linked economically. Adjacent municipalities are Sandhausen , Leimen , Nußloch , St. Leon-Rot and Reilingen . The train station, named Wiesloch-Walldorf , is located between
1296-490: Was the youngest son of Johann Jacob Astor and Maria Magdalena vom Berg. His three older brothers were George, Henry, and Melchior. In his childhood, Johann worked in his father's butcher shop and as a dairy salesman. In 1779, at the age of 16, he moved to London to join his brother George in working for an uncle's piano and flute manufacturer, Astor & Broadwood. While there, he learned English and anglicized his name to John Jacob Astor. In November 1783, just after
#840159