Born 11 May 1779 in Hildesheim, Germany

Ancestors

Husband of Sophie Louise Wilhelmine Kramer (Ebert) Heise — married 1811 in Hamburg, Germany

Descendants

Died 16 Nov 1860 at age 81 in Hamburg, Germany

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Biography

Leopold was born in Hildesheim, Germany, the first child of Johann Leopold Heise and Catharina Christina Fricke.

From 1835 to 1838 Leopold published the popular journal “Politisches Journal”. Leopold was responsible for the the management of the production, printing and distribution of the Journal. Distribution was mainly by a subscription service with the magazine being delivered to local Post Offices.

The “Politisches Journal” was established by the writer and entrepreneur Gottlob Benedict Schirach in 1781 and published until 1840. Gottlob and later his son ran the paper as a profitable business.

In association with others at the newspaper Leopold edited the paper and for each monthly issue of the paper he contributed a summary listing recent political and other events that occurred during the month.

The “Politisches Journal” was the most widely read magazine in Germany at the time. The magazine presented the latest political, economic and military news, statistical accounts and book reviews in a serious manner and attempted to be less biased than other newspapers. Articles were compiled in Hamburg principally from foreign newspapers and pamphlets and with the addition of letters from the journal’s own correspondents in Germany and other countries.

Each issue contained about one hundred pages with no paid advertising and the magazine’s content had a broad appeal for the German public of the day.

After the great Hamburg fire of 1842 he published a draft plan for “The Hamburg Citizens’ Association for Insurance Against the Dangers of Fire”. This was the first German mutual fire insurance company of any significance founded in 1795 and was run as a not for profit association.

A copy of the draft plan published by Leopold is not readily available but it probably contained ideas and strategies for payment of the large number of insurance claims the Association was liable for as a consequence of the fire.

Leopold in a few references is listed as a “businessman and newspaper publisher". It is not clear what other business interests he had, however his house and office at Gröningerstraße Nr. 22 (now Willy-Brandt-Straße 47) was a brewery before he bought it in 1809 and he may have continued this business.

Sources

• Lorenz Meyer, Oscar Tesdorpf. Hamburgische Wappen und Genealogien. Hamburg: Im Selbstverlag des Verfassers, 1890. Published privately in Hamburg. Page 118. Johann Georg Leopold Heise, 1) geb. Hildesheim 11. Mai 1779, gest. Hamburg 16. Nov. 1860,
  Kaufmann in Hamburg,
  Gem. (1811) Sophie Louise Wilhelmine Ebert, geb. Langelsheheim 11. Juli 1793, gest. Hamburg 26. März 1874, Tochter von Friedrich Wilhelm Ebert,
  1) Uber sein Leben siche Lexikon Hamburgischer Schriftsteller
• Entry in the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL). [1]
• Lexikon der hamburgischen Schriftsteller bis zur Gegenwart / ... ausgearb. von Hans Schröder ..., Bd. 3, Hamburg 1857, Nr. 1512. [2]
• Website: Hamburger Persoenlichkeiten. Johann Georg Leopold Heise, geboren 11.5.1779 in Hildesheim, gestorben 16.11.1860 in Hamburg, Sohn des Kaufmanns Johann Leopold Heise und der Catharina Christina Fricke. Kaufmann und Zeitungsverleger in Hamburg. Vermählt 22.8.1811 mit Sophie Luise Wilhelmine Kramer, geb. Ebert. [3]
• google books, Politisches Journal: Sammlung von Staatsacten nebst geschichtlichen und staatswissenschaftlichen Verhandlungen [4]
• Deutsche Biographie, Heise, Johann Georg Leopold [5]
• Ahnenforschung.Net Forum > Foren für Bundesländer der Bundesrepublik Deutschland > Hamburg Genealogie > Adressbuch Hamburg 1847 (Buchstabe H), Heise, Joh. Georg, Kaufm. B. Cto. Gröningerstrasse no 22 [6]
• Politisches journal, nebst Anzeige von gelehrten und andern Sachen 1838, google books. [7]
• europeana, newspapers, Hamburger Nachrichten 19 November 1860, Page 3, Column 5. [8]
  Todes=Anzeigen
  Am 16sten Novbr. starb Herr Johann Georg Heise, im 83sten Lebensjahre, betrauert von seiner Familie und seiner Wittwe.
  Louise Heise, geb. Ebert
• europeana, newspapers, Hamburger Nachrichten 21 February 1861, Page 2, near bottom of Column 5. Beneficiaries of his estate. [9]

Research Notes

• Das Gröninger Haus [10]
• Gröningers Braukeller, Wikipedia [11]
• Wikipedia, Liste der Kulturdenkmäler in Hamburg-Altstadt, Willy-Brandt-Straße 47 [12]
• Politisches Journal nebst Anzeige von gelehrten und andern Sachen, Wikipedia [13]
• Hamburg State Archives, Johann Georg Heise, Kaufmann: Anlegung eines Blattes im Hypothekenbuch für seine Fabrikanlage auf dem Grasbrook - abgelehnt, 1834 [14]

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

Thanks to G Heise for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by G and others.