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Maucher, Wilhelm (1879-1930 )

Wilhelm Maucher, a prominent mineral dealer in Munich, Germany, was born May 28, 1879, in Winterstettenstadt bei Hochdorf, Württemberg; he was the son of Anton Maucher and Agathe Burger. Wilhelm attended the Freiberg Mining Academy beginning in 1899 to study mineralogy and earned his Diplom-Ingenieur degree, remaining there after graduation in 1904 and joining the faculty as an instructor. That same year he married Frieda Spiess (1880-1939), and together they had four children: Karolina, Herbert, Albert and Elisabeth (b. 1910). He worked for the Academy's in-house mineral dealership, the Königlich-Sächsische Mineralien-Niederlage zu Freiberg, (q.v.) from 1904 to 1909 before leaving the Academy and establishing his own independent mineral specimen dealership in Munich at Schellingstrasse 73 in September 1909.

The Tsumeb mine was a special source of Maucher's specimens; it employed local staff, mostly Ovambos, as well as miners trained in Germany, chiefly in Siegerland. This established the link from Tsumeb miners to German collectors and universities who were able to purchase specimens, predominantly through Wilhelm Maucher in Munich. When Maucher was Curator of the Freiberg Mining Academy's mineral museum, he had been sent 400 tons of Tsumeb ore in order to determine the most efficient treatment for the extraction of the contained metals. From these 400 tons of ore Maucher also salvaged a ton of mineral specimens, an experience which may have contributed to his decision to leave the academy and become a mineral dealer. The mineral maucherite (which he discovered in 1906) was named in his honor by Grünling in 1917. Maucher acquired the mineral business and stock of the Munich dealer Arthur Kusche (q.v.) in 1924.

Wilhelm Maucher's sons inherited his love of geology and mineralogy, and each obtained professional degrees in the field. His daughter Elisabeth, however, was the one who eventually took over her father's mineral business following his death on May 4, 1930. When she married Hans Anneser in 1936, a change in company name was required, but she did not want to give up the association with the Maucher name, and so her brother Herbert Maucher (1906-1982) allowed his name to be used (thus the labels change from "W. Maucher" to "H. Maucher" in 1936).

In December 1944 the shop at Schellingstr. 73 was destroyed by Allied bombing. After the war Elisabeth reopened the shop at Gleichmannstr. 9 in the Pasing neighborhood of Munich, under the new name Kristallgarten Maucher. Labels thereafter read "Maucher, Pasing." Elisabeth Maucher-Anneser died March 28, 2007; the shop remains open under the management of her son, Johannes Anneser (now selling primarily jewelry.
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Citation format for this entry:
WILSON, Wendell E. 2022
Mineralogical Record
Biographical Archive, at www.mineralogicalrecord.com

Frieda and Wilhelm Maucher

34 x 42 mm,
A rare label with a crystal sketch by W. Maucher, who occasionally provided this embellishment for his best customers.

34 x 43 mm,
A rare label with a crystal sketch by W. Maucher, who occasionally provided this embellishment for his best customers.

50 x 67 mm,
A large label for a specimen of Maucherite, named for Wilhelm Maucher by Grünling in 1917

77 x 95 mm,
Label for a specimen from German South-West Africa (now Namibia)

47 x 62 mm

47 x 62 mm

50 x 64 mm