Chapter 15: From Amsterdam to Venice
In June, Prussia remained unaffected by the war, with Berlin bustling as usual. The city's streets teemed with pedestrians, and businesses and factories operated smoothly, presenting a vibrant scene.
Over the past two months, Ernst had been focused on establishing the Hechingen Development Bank. Fortunately, banking in this era was relatively straightforward, with few regulatory hurdles.
After two months of preparations, the Hechingen Development Bank was successfully established. Many company executives from Ernst's businesses attended the opening ceremony, solidifying the Hechingen Consortium's initial form.
With the bank in place, Ernst's next major move was to invest in the creation of the Berlin Electric Power Company and the Berlin Energy Power Company, a project that showcased his vision for the future.
Finding the right talent for these new ventures was paramount. Ernst initiated a thorough search for suitable managers, conducting extensive investigations and advertising job opportunities in newspapers.
On July 28, the Frenchman Etienne Lenoir was appointed as the first general manager of the Berlin Energy Power Company. Lenoir was the inventor of the first-generation internal combustion engine. Despite his groundbreaking work, Lenoir had struggled financially, making Ernst's generous salary offer and promise of support for his research highly appealing.
Ernst also recruited a young man about to graduate from school, Karl Friedrich Benz, as Lenoir's assistant. Benz, a student from the Karlsruhe Polytechnic Institute in Baden-Württemberg, showed great promise and skipped his original factory internship to work for Ernst.
Additionally, Berlin Energy Power Company acquired the engine patent of a relatively unknown Frenchman, Alphonse Beau Rorschach, appointing him as a technical consultant. Rorschach would later play a significant role in history by snatching Ross August Otto's gasifier patent.
Although Ernst had initially hoped to secure the services of Ross August Otto, the inventor of the four-stroke engine, Otto had already found a partner, Eugene Langen, and the two had successfully established a profitable company.
Berlin Energy Power Company also recruited many recent college graduates as a pool of talented individuals. These young graduates, often considered elite, would provide the company with fresh perspectives and innovative ideas.
Ernst's first directive to the new company was to develop an advanced four-stroke engine based on Alphonse Beau Rorschach's patent. This was an ambitious goal, but with the guidance of Lenoir and the support of talented individuals like Karl Benz, Ernst believed it was achievable.
As the Vienna Conference was underway on October 20, Ernst traveled to the Port of Amsterdam in the Netherlands for further exploration. His goal was to find suitable partners and lay the groundwork for expanding into the Far East market.
Ernst considered the Far East, particularly East Asia, as a potentially lucrative market. While India was a prized possession of the British Empire, East Asia remained relatively untapped, and Ernst's familiarity with the region made it an attractive prospect.
East Asia presented unique opportunities, and with careful planning, Ernst believed he could establish a commercial stronghold there. To achieve this, he reached agreements with Dutch ocean-going trading companies, utilizing their experience in ocean trade to facilitate his own ventures.
Amsterdam served as a starting point for Ernst's plans, but he intended to shift his focus to ports along the Mediterranean Sea in the future. With the impending opening of the Suez Canal, Ernst aimed to develop his fleet and routes based on intelligence advantages.
Additionally, Ernst envisioned using Austria as a transit point for commercial and trade routes after the reunification of Germany, leveraging connections he had in the Austrian Empire.
In the long run, he intended to utilize ports like Venice on the Adriatic Sea to bypass the lengthy African coastline and significantly reduce shipping distances to East Asia through the Suez Canal.
Ernst's foray into the Mediterranean was part of a carefully laid plan. He believed that the time was not yet ripe for shipbuilding in Hamburg, Germany, as the nation still lacked experience in ocean-going commerce. When the right moment arrived, he would consider establishing a shipyard in Hamburg for larger-scale commodity trades.
Ernst's journey to the Netherlands was just the beginning, as he prepared to expand his reach into the Mediterranean.
(End of Chapter 15)