Carl Jonas Pfeiffer

[2] By 1803, Carl Pfeiffer and his brother Georg were living in Hanau, where they had take over running a snuff factory owned by their uncle Simon Rüppell and his partner Wilhelm von Harnier, prominent bankers in Frankfurt.

[1] In 1807, the Napoleonic wars transformed the borders of the German states, with Cassel becoming the capital of the new Kingdom of Westphalia, and Hanau being absorbed into the newly created Grand Duchy of Frankfurt.

This created new borders and customs issues that affected trade and commerce throughout the region, which spurred the brothers Pfeiffer to open a second snuff factory in Cassel, so as not to lose their profitable business in lower Hesse.

In the meantime, George and their eldest brother Burkhard Wilhelm purchased (for 17,0000 thaler) a grand house on the Königsplatz in Cassel, directly next to the Hôtel zum König von Preußen, which had formerly been owned by Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal.

[1] While living in Hanau, Carl Pfeiffer cultivated a friendship with the naturalist Gottfried Gärtner, which resulted in a deep interest in botany and the natural world.

[3] In Hanau, and later in Cassel, Carl would spend his evening walks searching for snails and mollusks anywhere they could be found: hedges, old masonry, stagnant water, ponds and streams.

[5] This union produced three children: Louise Pfeiffer had spent much of her late life in delicate health, and Carl had purchased her a garden plot on the Akazienallee in Cassel, where he built her a small summer home.