Behn, Meyer & Co. was established in Singapore on 1 November 1840 as a partnership between two Germans, Theodor August Behn and Valentin Lorenz Meyer. In its initial years, the firm dealt with the trading of tropical produce such as coconut oil, copra, pepper, camphor and rattan, but it subsequently ventured into shipping and insurance. Meyer's younger brother Arnold Otto Meyer later joined as a clerk, and was soon admitted as a partner. The younger Meyer subsequently returned to Germany, and founded Arnold Otto Meyer Co.
Introduction
Behn, Meyer & Co. was founded in Singapore on 1 November 1840 as a partnership between two Germans, Theodor August Behn and Valentin Lorenz Meyer. At a time when German enterprise in the East consisted only of a handful of individuals, Behn, Meyer and Co. was the first German business to compete for the growing Eastern trade in an extensive and organized manner.
Behn, Meyer and Co. Headquarters
The firm started from a rented godown next to the old Telok Ayer Market as commission agents, trading between the East (primarily China, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia) and Germany (in the cities of Hamburg and Bremen). The company enjoyed early success in their ventures. With the growing profits, they were soon able to purchase a Chinese house in Market Street for use as a godown. The upper floor of the building was converted to an office, whilst the room next to the entrance held displays of glass and ironware. In the 1890s, the firm began acquiring property in Singapore and Penang. The company's headquarters was located in a three-storied white building at Finlayson Green. The ground floor held the shipping department and the estate administration office; the second floor housed the shipping department for homeward shipping, the passage, cargo, produce and finance departments; and the third floor held the bookkeeping department and the General Consulate.
Behn, Meyer and Co. Headquarters
The firm started from a rented godown next to the old Telok Ayer Market as commission agents, trading between the East (primarily China, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia) and Germany (in the cities of Hamburg and Bremen). The company enjoyed early success in their ventures. With the growing profits, they were soon able to purchase a Chinese house in Market Street for use as a godown. The upper floor of the building was converted to an office, whilst the room next to the entrance held displays of glass and ironware. In the 1890s, the firm began acquiring property in Singapore and Penang. The company's headquarters was located in a three-storied white building at Finlayson Green. The ground floor held the shipping department and the estate administration office; the second floor housed the shipping department for homeward shipping, the passage, cargo, produce and finance departments; and the third floor held the bookkeeping department and the General Consulate.
Business Interests
The company prospered with the establishment of more European connections, and as the trading environment improved with the introduction of steamships, abolition of the Navigation Act and the liberalization of coastal trade with Burma and the near Indies. The firm traded on a wide range of goods. In the early years, the company dealt in manufactured goods, small goods, hardware, copper wire, glassware and foodstuffs from Germany; cassia, lignae, camphor, ginger, aniseed, silk, porcelain and tea from China; sugar, coffee, indigo, sapanwood, tobacco, ropes and Manila hemp from Manila; and gambier, pepper, other spices, sago, hides, buffalo horns, shells, damar, gutta percha, gum Benjamin, rattan and rice in transshipment from Singapore. Besides the regular China-Germany trade route, the company also engaged in other trades and shipments. The company transported Malayan tin ingots (bearing the stamp B and M) to London in exchange for Manchester-goods, bartered Swedish steel, iron ore and tar for Siamese sugar, conducted transactions in the profitable commodities of Burmese rice and Ceylonese coconut oil, acquired Western Australian sandalwood, horses and ships in exchange for cane sugar, shipped prefabricated wooden houses and other colonial products to San Francisco to support the burgeoning gold-mining industry in California, as well as repacked and transported China tea to New York during the season of the Northeast Monsoon. The tea repacking business was later discontinued when fast clippers were able to sail from China to New York directly. The company also secured a concession to carry English coal to Singapore. Interestingly, the firm was also involved in providing transportation for Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca.
Partnerships
The partnership between Behn and Valentin Meyer dissolved in 31 December 1849 over differences in character and business approach. Despite the friction in their business relationship, they remained privately as friends. Valentin Meyer remained in Hamburg to look after the interests of the firm in Europe. The friendship between the two men was further sealed with Behn's marriage to Caroline Meyer, the sister of Valentin Meyer, on 7 August 1844. Caroline arrived to Singapore on 28 December 1844. She was to be the first and only female German resident in Singapore for sometime.
The company prospered with the establishment of more European connections, and as the trading environment improved with the introduction of steamships, abolition of the Navigation Act and the liberalization of coastal trade with Burma and the near Indies. The firm traded on a wide range of goods. In the early years, the company dealt in manufactured goods, small goods, hardware, copper wire, glassware and foodstuffs from Germany; cassia, lignae, camphor, ginger, aniseed, silk, porcelain and tea from China; sugar, coffee, indigo, sapanwood, tobacco, ropes and Manila hemp from Manila; and gambier, pepper, other spices, sago, hides, buffalo horns, shells, damar, gutta percha, gum Benjamin, rattan and rice in transshipment from Singapore. Besides the regular China-Germany trade route, the company also engaged in other trades and shipments. The company transported Malayan tin ingots (bearing the stamp B and M) to London in exchange for Manchester-goods, bartered Swedish steel, iron ore and tar for Siamese sugar, conducted transactions in the profitable commodities of Burmese rice and Ceylonese coconut oil, acquired Western Australian sandalwood, horses and ships in exchange for cane sugar, shipped prefabricated wooden houses and other colonial products to San Francisco to support the burgeoning gold-mining industry in California, as well as repacked and transported China tea to New York during the season of the Northeast Monsoon. The tea repacking business was later discontinued when fast clippers were able to sail from China to New York directly. The company also secured a concession to carry English coal to Singapore. Interestingly, the firm was also involved in providing transportation for Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca.
Partnerships
The partnership between Behn and Valentin Meyer dissolved in 31 December 1849 over differences in character and business approach. Despite the friction in their business relationship, they remained privately as friends. Valentin Meyer remained in Hamburg to look after the interests of the firm in Europe. The friendship between the two men was further sealed with Behn's marriage to Caroline Meyer, the sister of Valentin Meyer, on 7 August 1844. Caroline arrived to Singapore on 28 December 1844. She was to be the first and only female German resident in Singapore for sometime.
Friedrich Albert Schreiber entered the firm as a clerk in 1841. Around the years 1847-1848, Arnold Otto Meyer, the younger brother of Valentin Lorenz Meyer, also joined the firm. Together with Behn, the three signed a new partnership agreement on 31 December 1851. By the end of 1856, August Behn left Behn, Meyer and Co. Taking his place, Herr Johannes Mooyer entered the partnership in 1 January 1857. In 22 February 1857, Arnold Otto Meyer, who has been credited with expanding the firm and steering it through several crises, left Singapore to take over Behn's responsibilities in Hamburg. Whilst in Hamburg, he founded Arnold Otto Meyer, another great German company on 1 June 1857. He resigned from Behn and Meyer on 1 January 1900.
Between the period 1849 to 1899, the firm had no less than twelve partners, entering and leaving the firm. Of these, Adolf Lapse and Franz Heinrich Wiithoefft, who joined the firm in 1893 and 1896 respectively, were recorded as key figures who guided the company to its next stage of growth. During this period, the company's business interests expanded to include the chartering of ships, insurance, and coastal shipping. The firm also sealed important deals with major shipping lines like the Norddeutscher-Lloyd. By 1913, the firm had eleven branches in the Far East, comprising Penang, Manila, Sandakan and Iloilo.
List of Partners in Behn, Meyer & Co. from the 1860s-1890s
1863 - 1869 : Ferdinand von der Heyde
1868 -1872 : Oscar Mooyer
1870 - 1880 : Caspar Glinz (Swiss)
1873 - 1881 : Julius Brussel
1882 - 1887 : Johannes Lutjens
1885 - 1891 : Otto Muhry
1885 - 1905 : Eduard Lorenz Meyer (son of Arnold Otto Meyer)
1890 - 1895 : Walter Edelmann (Swiss)
1902 - 1905 : Alexander von Roessing
1868 -1872 : Oscar Mooyer
1870 - 1880 : Caspar Glinz (Swiss)
1873 - 1881 : Julius Brussel
1882 - 1887 : Johannes Lutjens
1885 - 1891 : Otto Muhry
1885 - 1905 : Eduard Lorenz Meyer (son of Arnold Otto Meyer)
1890 - 1895 : Walter Edelmann (Swiss)
1902 - 1905 : Alexander von Roessing
History after the 1900s
On 1 January 1906, Behn, Meyer and Co. became a limited liability company, and the control of the company shifted from Singapore to Hamburg. The first board of directors were Hans Becker, Ad. Asmus, A. G. Faber, F. Katenkamp, and H. Riege. The firm experienced more crises in 1907 and 1908 when pepper prices fell. The firm recovered and survived through World War I and World II, despite experiencing huge losses. The company still exists today as the Behn Meyer Group. The company has businesses in chemicals, fertilizer/crop protection, engineering, general trading, export, and paper and board, and offices in Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Jamaica.
Author
Joshua Chia Yeong Jia
References
Behn Meyer Group. (2006). History: about us. Retrieved October 12, 2006, from http://www.behnmeyer.com/bm_articles.asp?show_article=1
Helfferich, E. (1981). Behn, Meyer & Co. and Arnold Otto Meyer. (Vols. 1-2). Hamburg: Hans Christians.
(Call no.: RSING 382.0943059 HEL)
Makepeace, W., Brooke, G. E., & Braddell, R. St. J. (Eds.). (1991). One hundred years of Singapore (Vol. 1 pp. 187-188). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 ONE)
Singapore International Chamber of Commerce. (1979). From early days (pp. 46-48). Singapore: The Chamber.
(Call no.: RSING 380.10655957SIN)
Wright, A., & Cartwright, H. A. (Eds.). (1908). Twentieth century impressions of British Malaya: Its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources (pp. 672, 674, 801, 803) [Microfilm: NL 16084]. London: Lloyd's Greater Pub. Co.
The information in this article is valid as at 2006 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
Behn Meyer Group. (2006). History: about us. Retrieved October 12, 2006, from http://www.behnmeyer.com/bm_articles.asp?show_article=1
Helfferich, E. (1981). Behn, Meyer & Co. and Arnold Otto Meyer. (Vols. 1-2). Hamburg: Hans Christians.
(Call no.: RSING 382.0943059 HEL)
Makepeace, W., Brooke, G. E., & Braddell, R. St. J. (Eds.). (1991). One hundred years of Singapore (Vol. 1 pp. 187-188). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 ONE)
Singapore International Chamber of Commerce. (1979). From early days (pp. 46-48). Singapore: The Chamber.
(Call no.: RSING 380.10655957SIN)
Wright, A., & Cartwright, H. A. (Eds.). (1908). Twentieth century impressions of British Malaya: Its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources (pp. 672, 674, 801, 803) [Microfilm: NL 16084]. London: Lloyd's Greater Pub. Co.
The information in this article is valid as at 2006 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
