Johann W. Oelsner (1766-1848)

Johann Wilhelm Oelsner was born in 1766 in Goldberg. He attended the Gymnasium at Liegnitz and then studied classics at the University of Halle. In 1791, he moved to Wrocław (then part of Prussia) to teach at the Elisabet-Gymnasium. In 1794 he additionally founded the first private school in that city, which became very popular and attracted the sons of leading families in Silesia.

In 1809, he inherited the business of his uncle, a wealthy cloth merchant, and abandoned teaching to devote his energies to this enterprise. In 1818, he and three partners established a woolen mill, importing machinery from England. Steam power was introduced two years later. In 1823 Oelsner took sole control and subsequently converted it to manufacture quality fabrics. Much of this innovation – and negotiations with Russia concerning the export of Silesian cloth - had been undertaken in close consultation with the government and Oelsner became a royal councillor.

Oelsner was also a noted philologist and had an extensive library – his pride and joy - which in 1836 numbered 18,000 volumes. It included many early printed works, first editions and rare prints. He also wrote on a wide number of topics, including several anthologies of poems for use in schools.

Oelsner died in 1848.