Ludwig Ritter von
Gerngros

Hop wholesaler, patron

Son of Ephraim Hirsch Gerngros (* 1803), dyer, brother of Wilhelm. ∞ 11.3.1866 Julie Tuchmann (* 1845 - † 1923). Attended commercial school in Fürth and apprenticeship at the Mayer Kohn trading house. In 1864 he came to Nuremberg and, together with Moritz Frauenfeld, founded a wholesale hop business with a branch in Baiersdorf. The success allowed him to retire from the business as early as 1899. Together with his wife, he donated a cast of the Neptune Fountain, which had been sold by the city to Tsar Paul I in 1797 for 66,000 fl. and erected in the park of Peterhof Palace near St. Petersburg. The cast was inaugurated on 22.10.1902 on the Main Market Square. Gerngros also contributed to the financing of the equestrian monument to Emperor Wilhelm I on the Egidienberg, the Künstlerhaus, the Ludwigseisenbahn monument and made other artistic and charitable donations. Among his numerous honours were the title of Kommerzienrat, the award of the Order of St Michael and the Order of the Crown, combined with personal titles of nobility. In 1901 he became an honorary citizen of the city of Nuremberg and of Baiersdorf. Member of the Historical Society of the City of Nuremberg and in 1902 honorary member of the Artists' Society. In 1909 he received the golden citizen's medal (71.5 g gold) for his 70th birthday. The Gerngrosstraße in Nuremberg was named after him.

Lit.: Künstlerverein 1954; Juden, 1993; Rusam, 1998; Erlanger/Fischer, 2000; Stadtlexikon 2000. 

(quoted from the Nuremberg Künstlerlexikon, edited by Manfred H. Grieb).