Background
Lindemann was born in the Palatinate to a Roman Catholic family established in Alsace-Lorraine under the Comte de Lindemann, who had married into the Cyprien-Fabre shipping family.
Lindemann was born in the Palatinate to a Roman Catholic family established in Alsace-Lorraine under the Comte de Lindemann, who had married into the Cyprien-Fabre shipping family.
Lindemann married Olga Noble (1851–c1927), herself heiress to a wealthy New London, Connecticut engineering family of British origin, and the widow of a banker named Davidson by whom she had produced three children. Olga was reputedly "vivacious and beautiful". Lindemann had raised capital in the City of London to construct the waterworks in Speyer and Pirmasens.
He was also involved in the Transatlantic telegraph cable project
He moved to England in the 1860s and became naturalised a British subject. The couple were wealthy, having an annual income of around £20,000 by 1914 (£15 million at 2003 prices).
On Olga"s death, Lindemann donated the observatory to the University of Exeter. The youngest brother, Septimus, became something of a playboy on the French Riviera but became a notable agent for the intelligence services in World World War World War II Adolph"s only daughter (he had two stepdaughters by his wife"s previous marriage), Linda, became a short story writer and playwright, writing under a pseudonym to avoid family disapproval.
One of her plays, "The Manitoba in the Case" was censored.
The minor planet 828 Lindemannia is named for him.