Abraham Krohn (1766-1827)
Abraham Krohn, grew up in modest surroundings. His father, David Erdmann Krohn (Between 1725 and 1735 - 1825), who was a schoolmaster taught him arithmetic and to read and write. As a young man, Abraham learnt the baker's craft and became journey man baker.
In 1785 Abraham moved to St Petersburg where his great uncle Johann Emmanuel Krohn (?-1825), who was a member of the Imperial Orchestra, lived. Johann obtained a job for the young Abraham in the Court bakery. Abraham soon became the Court baker and, every day, had to attend Empress Catherine II (1729-1796) in the her palace taking a basket of bread.
In 1790 Abraham, probably with the assistance of Empress Catherine II (The Great), acquired enough resources to build a brewery on a piece of land in the Alexander Nevsky quarter beside the River Neva.
By 1793, when he married Alisabeth Balser (1770-1837), his brewery was already in production. But, a year after Catherine the Great's death in 1797 the whole brewery burnt down. The fire must have been a hard blow to Abraham. For, ultimately he had to sell half of his land and on the remainder he built a new brewery. No doubt his enterprise prospered again, for when he visited Rügen (1818) he was described as very rich. Abraham's social position in St Petersburg had by that time improved. As was customary in Russia the Municipal Authorities appointed him as a Merchant and Manufacturer and a Town Councillor.
In 1827 Abraham died suddenly from apoplexy and his wife Alisabeth Balser died after a short illness in 1837