Abhandlungen über die Kultur der Runkelrube

SUBJECT AREA: Agricultural and food technology

[br]

[br]

[br]

The descendant of a French refugee, Achard began the systematic study of beet on his estate at Caulsdorf in 1786. The work had been stimulated by the discovery in 1747 of the presence of sugar in fodder beet. This research had been carried out by Andreas Marggraf, under whom Franz Achard trained. After a fire destroyed his laboratories Achard established himself on the domain of Französisch in Buchholtz near Berlin.

After thirteen years of study he felt sufficiently confident to apply for an interview with Frederick William III, King of Prussia, which took place on 11 January 1799. Achard presented the King with a loaf of sugar made from raw beet by his Sugar Boiling House method. He requested a ten-year monopoly on his idea, as well as the grant of land on which to carry out his work. The King was sufficiently impressed to establish a committee to supervise further trials, and asked Achard to make a public statement on his work. The King ordered a factory to be built at his own expense, and paid Achard a salary to manage it. In 1801 he was granted the domain of Cunern in Silesia; he built his first sugar factory there and began production in 1802. Unfortunately Achard's business skills were negligible, and he was bankrupt within the year. In 1810 the State relieved him of his debt and gave him a pension, and in 1812 the first sugar factory was turned into a school of sugar technology.

[br]