Der deutsch-russische Unternehmer Andreas Knauf im Ural Der Аufstieg

Hans Peter Andreas Knauf, known in Russia as Andrey Andreevich Knauf (1765 – 1835), is an uncommon figure in Russian history. His life leaves many questions that are still to be answered. He was, however, an outstanding personality that played a significant role in the development of the mining and iron foundry industries in the Urals. Born in Kiel, the capital of the Duchy of Holstein, Andrey Knauf, a son of a shoemaker who had neither capital nor connections, was a talented autodidact, and a fellow-countryman of Emperor Peter III. He came to Russia at the age of 18 and achieved considerable success in commerce becoming a prominent merchant of the top guild in Moscow and a manufacturer in the Urals. The article focuses on Knauf ’s activity in the Urals as an owner of mining factories and on their modernization by transferring German technologies, especially in 1801–1811. His experience is interesting in the context of serfdom and the lack of trained workers in the system of possessional manufactures. However, to study the problem in question the author considers it reasonable not to confine to the meta-concepts of autocracy and serfdom, which are perceived as interpretative patterns for the period in question, but to complete those meta-concepts with micro-historical sketches focusing on “particular” facts and the role of an individual in history.