Hermann Dietrich Upmann (1 May 1816 in Bielefeld-Altstadt, Germany – 29 January 1894

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) was a banker, merchant and cigar manufacturer in Cuba, creator of the H. Upmann 1844 brand. At 23 years old he embarked for the New World in 1839 to work for an import/export company, The Gravenhorst & Co. During the voyage, a Briton persuaded him to stay in Havana where the tobacco business was flourishing. Upmann accepted the suggestion. He learned the processes and secrets of cigar manufacturing, purchased a local cigar factory, and created the H. Upmann 1844 brand, which is among the oldest cigar brands in the world. In 1855 he received the first of many prizes that he would obtain over the following years. He achieved the

Royal warrant of appointment Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The royal warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the issuer of t ...

qualification of "''Provider of His Majesty Don Alfonso XII, King of Spain''". His is one of the five largest tobacco factories in Cuba. Upmann became a director of the Havana Cigar Brand Association, an organization that works to confront the production and sale of counterfeit cigars. He found the tropical climate in Cuba difficult, so he decided against a lasting stay. His youngest brother, August Ludwig Upmann (born 1818), started to work with him and stayed in Cuba. Hermann returned to Germany in 1848 and founded the cigar company Gebrüder Upmann & Co. Bremen. In 1864, his nephew, Heinrich Upmann, arrived in Cuba. With capital contributed mainly by his uncle, they founded an organization dedicated to banking operations - initially catering to tobacco dealers and manufacturers, whose operations were spread through the Antilles. The company grew to such an extent that it was transformed into a vertical operation: they took care of the seedbeds, plant, harvest, manufacture, pack and, with their own shipping company, transported their products to other markets. Upmann retired in 1890 and was succeeded at H. Upmann & Co. by his nephew who continued the business with his partners Heinrich Runken and

Theodore Garbade Theodore Dietrich Garbade (12 September 187326 January 1961) was a merchant and banker. He was President of the Union of Manufacturers of Cigars of Cuba. As a young man he moved from the German ''Zigarrenmacherdorf'' ("cigar-making village") of Ha ...

. The latter was president of the Union of Cigar manufacturers of the Island. Upmann died in Bremen in 1894 and is buried in the Upmann family grave at the .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Upmann, Hermann Dietrich 1816 births 1894 deaths German bankers Cigar makers Businesspeople from Bielefeld 19th-century Cuban businesspeople 19th-century German businesspeople German expatriates in Cuba