Career
He was the last person in Germany to be ennobled. On the request of his employer, Prince Christian Kraft zu Hohenlohe-Öhringen, he was raised to the hereditary nobility of the Principality of Lippe by Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe "in recognition of his loyal service" on 12 November 1918, the same day as the Sovereign Prince"s abdication and the abolition of monarchy. He belonged to a family of industrialists.