Gustav Adolf Kröner
He was the son of the staff officer and late hospital administrator Ludwig Ferdinand Kröner (1807-1862) and Christine Magdalene Ebner (1799-1876).
He had three children with her, including the two sons Alfred and Robert, with whom he later led his printing houses, and the daughter Alwine,[1] who married the Publisher Heinrich Beck.
In 1855, he began his training in Wilhelm Bach's bookshop in Stuttgart, then moved to L. Boshoyer's store in Cannstatt for a few weeks before starting work as a bookseller's assistant in Munich.
In 1859, Adolf Kröner took over the Hof- und Kanzleibuchdruckerei of his father-in-law Carl Mäntler and founded his first publishing house Gebr.
In 1899, the Cotta'sche Buchhandlung was converted into a private limited company (GmbH) and Adolf Kröner managed it together with his son Robert until his death in 1911.
Among the most important authors in the field of philosophy were Friedrich Theodor Vischer, Friedrich Jodl, Heinrich von Stein, Eduard Engel and Franz Brentano, and in the sector of economics and law Georg von Mayr, Georg Schanz, Lujo Brentano and Walter Lotz.
According to the Neue Deutsche Biographie, however, it was„verhängnisvoll, daß Kröner die neuen Strömungen falsch einschätzte.“[9] He refused to collaborate with Detlev von Liliencron as well as with Heinrich Mann and Rainer Maria Rilke, and also attempted at a very late stage to get Arthur Schnitzler and Hermann Hesse on his side.
The Neue Deutsche Biographie refers to Kröner's activities as „bedeutendsten Mann auf diesem Posten in der 2.
Kröner became "the leader of the reform movement that sought a balance between the centers of Leipzig and Berlin on the one hand and the rest of the German book trade on the other.
Kröner strongly condemned this action: in 1884, he gave his most famous speech at the Börsenverein's general meeting, in which he called for the introduction of fixed book prices for the German book trade and highlighted the advantages for publishers, booksellers and authors:„Die Schleuderer im Buchhandel, d.h. der Verkauf neuer Bücher an das Publicum zu Preisen, bei welchen nach dem Urtheil unparteiischer Sachverständiger ein solider, über das ganze deutsche Sprachgebiet verbreiteter Sortimentsbuchhandel nicht mehr bestehen kann, ist in ihren Consequenzen gleich nachtheilig für Schriftsteller, Bücherverkäufer und Verleger.“[12]He requested the establishment of equal market conditions for all booksellers, pointing out that this would be in the interest of all stakeholders.
Other results of his efforts were a revival of the association's activities, especially at the district and local levels, and the establishment of a commission to advise on complaints about skidding.
This plan failed and Parey had to resign as chairman after only one year - to Adolf Kröner, who refused to stand for re-election in 1892 for health reasons.
