Ulman Stromer

Who was Ulman Stromer?

Ulman Stromer was a German long-distance trader, factory owner and councillor of Nuremberg, then a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. He ran the family enterprise, one of the largest of the prospering trade center, from 1370 until his death by the plague in 1407.

In 1390, he established the first permanent paper mill north of the Alpes, at the Pegnitz river not far from the city.:

Stromer decided to start a paper-mill after he recognised the success that this business was having in Italy. In order to secure the know-how he employed the Italian brothers Marco and Francisco di Marchia and their boy Bartolomeo, bringing them to Nuremberg.