Johann Carl Pflüger – not only Heinrich Hackfeld’s right-hand man
‘The firm of H. Hackfeld & Co. owes much of its present eminence to his great commercial ability and
untiring energy.’ (The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 25 October 1883, p. 2)
Johann Carl Pflüger was born on 18 January 1833 in Bremen. In 1849, at the age of sixteen, he
travelled to Hawaii with Heinrich Hackfeld. Four years later, in 1853, he became Heinrich Hackfeld’s
partner, still only a young man of twenty. From then on, the company was called H. Hackfeld & Co. It
could just as easily have been called J.C. Pflüger & Co. Pflüger was not only Hinrich Hackfeld’s
partner, but also managed the company when Hackfeld was in Germany – temporarily from 1855 to
1857 and permanently from 1862. Until his own return to Germany in 1872, Pflüger, with and
without Hackfeld, was responsible for expanding the wholesale and retail trade to supply whalers
and gold prospectors, but also Honolulu, the establishment of shipping connections to the American
coast and the Far East, including the import of lumber, the construction of their own fleet and the
continuation of whaling with own ships, trade with Russia – and, last but not least, entry into the
sugar business with the representation of plantations from Kauai and Maui.
Pflüger served as consul for Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the German Empire, and he was vice consul for Russia.
He took on the role of Vice President of the newly established Honolulu Chamber of Commerce. Back in
Germany, Pflüger and Hackfeld built up the company’s European business. At the same time, he took
on the role of Consul General for Hawaii in the German Empire. His responsibilities included
facilitating and organising the emigration of Germans to Hawaii. Until his death, Pflüger travelled to
Hawaii twice more to solve problems within the company and with a competitor.
Johan Carl Pflüger died on 5 October 1883 in Bremen.
Last Will and Testament
Pflüger wrote his last will and testament on 25 March 1872 in Honolulu. It was amended twice, on 19
August 1875 and 15 July 1878. It reflects the political, economic and familial circumstances of the
time. It also shows the extraordinarily high earnings potential for entrepreneurs in Hawaii and how
well H. Hackfeld & Co. and its employees understood their business. By way of comparison: in the
German Empire, an industrial worker earned around 500 to 600 Reichsmarks a year in 1880. Henry
Berger’s musicians in Hawaii received between $300 and $600 a year.
In 1872, Pflüger bequeathed large sums of money to his parents and siblings. His wife was to receive
200,000 Bremen gold thalers. In 1875, the Bremen gold thaler was abolished and the Reichsmark was
introduced as legal tender. The codicil of 1875 stipulated that his wife was to receive an annual pension of 30,000 Reichsmarks. Payments to the brothers were to be made after deduction of their
debts to him. His shares in the company H. Hackfeld & Co. were to be sold and the money invested.
500,000 Reichsmarks each were to be invested in German and foreign government bonds – with the
exception of French bonds after the Franco-Prussian War – in priority bonds of the German railways
and in German land charges. In the last will and testament, he left nothing to his siblings. His wife
and brother-in-law Hinrich Hackfeld were now the sole executors of his will in Germany and Hawaii,
having previously appointed H.A. Widemann, J.C. Glade and his brother J.W. as executors in Honolulu
and others for Germany.