Office

Verla's clerks

According to office manager Ilmonen, these people have worked as clerks of the Verla Groundwood and Board mill:

R. Duncker 1882–1889

O. Frank 1889–1890

O. Stiefel 1890–1893

A. Lindstr�m 1893–1898

U. H�ckert 1898–1903

G. Gr�nroos 1903–1904

G. Ahrenberg 1904–1906

E. Elixin 1906–1931

It is known that Rudolf Duncker did more than just office work. He was a jack of all trades and a multi-talented man. He worked at Verla for seven years. The list does not include procurator Johan Porkka, who, in addition to Verla, took care of many of the affairs of the Dippell companies in Vyborg. Almost all of them came to Verla from Vyborg and had contacts with W. Dippell's trading house before or after coming to Verla. Many of them stayed in Verla for only a few years, usually three to five years. The exception was Edvard Eliksin, who held the position for 25 years.

During the Dippell’s time, Verla's headquarters were in Vyborg. In Verla, the executive management were the superintendent, the grinding master and the people who took care of the local office work. In addition, the clerks acted as recorders and, if necessary, interpreters. Many of them had education in the field through studies or work experience, and their duties at Verla were significant. During the time of Otto Stiefel, Arthur Lindstr�m and Uno H�ckert the forest estates were acquired for the Verla company. Edvard Eliksin, who put Verla's affairs in order, came to the village a couple of years before Kreidl's death, and stayed in Verla for a long time. Lieutenant Carl Gaston Ahrenberg, who worked in Verla from 1904 to 1906, was exceptional in his education. He was in Verla during the years when there were strikes in Finland, preparations for the parliamentary elections as well as the establishment of the Verla Limited Company.

Gustaf Rudolf Duncker (1841–1889)

Based on his first name, he was his father's namesake, and therefore used his middle name, Rudolf. He first studied at the University of Helsinki and continued his studies in Hanover, Germany, in 1869–71. In Hanover, Eduard Dippell also attended the lectures. Rudolf received extensive knowledge of construction, and later his profession is mentioned as a construction foreman, engineer and in the parish registers as an architect. In 1872–73, he worked as an engineer at the Hyvink��-Hanko railway construction site. The chief engineer was August Hilden, and the junior engineers were Rudolf Duncker, Otto Wrede and Baron Reinhold Munck. Rudolf worked at the Bergstad sawmill and brick factory in Porvoo in 1875–76, when his profession is listed as a construction foreman. Newspaper reports describe how a new type of brick kiln designed by the Danish engineer A.C. Bock and built by Rudolf Duncker, has been introduced at the brick factory. He was also familiar with financial matters, and in 1881 he was the auditor of the Iitti Savings Bank.

From 1882 to 1889, he worked as the local manager of the Verla mill. There are only a few mentions of Gottlieb Kreidl being in Verla during those years. Rudolf Duncker writes about his duties in a letter to his niece on 21 October 1886. "I can't leave the mill even for three days on your wedding day, as much as I'd like to. Important construction work, mail and deliveries of goods require me to be here, because I have no one here who can write orders in Finnish, Swedish and German, let alone speak."

At the end of the letter, Rudolf asks to explain the reason for his absence to the wedding guests who were still in Porvoo after Lisa received the letter. "Say I'm fine, but I can't come to the wedding, because the supervision of the new buildings here in Werla, and at the same time the masonry of the new furnace in the drying room, which will be done according to my proposal and drawings, require my presence here. In addition to this, my tasks include a few small deliveries, accounting, minor correspondence and taking care of payments. This way you can form a picture of how my time here is spent."

Hugo Emil Otto Stiefel (1865-1951)

He was born in Germany and moved with his parents to Vyborg in the 1870s, where his father became the manager of the gas plant. After graduating from school, he joined Hackman & C and worked for a while at the Pitk�ranta factory. In 1890, he came to Verla as an office clerk. Four years later, he returned to Vyborg to become the director of the Fr Richardt company, owned by his widowed sister, and to run the Vyborg tobacco factory too. At the end of the 1890s, he was a member of the board of directors of the Vyborg Beer Factory together with Wilhelm and Edvard Dippell. Later, he founded his own agency in Vyborg and after giving it up, he continued to operate in Helsinki. He was married to Nina Kononoff, and while in Verla, they had two daughters, Werna Alice and Mery Frida Rosalia. Werna, who was born in October 1890, had Mrs. Emilie Kreidl and Sel�np��'s station manager V. Segercrantz as godparents.

Selim Arthur Alarik Lindstr�m (1863–1915)

Most of Verla's forest estates were purchased for the company during the time when Arthur Lindstr�m was the mill's clerk. At that time the mill company bought also the Ojasela farm in Sel�np�� and the lands on which the cottages owned by the mill workers were located. In 1898, Lindstr�m returned to Vyborg. There he worked for several years at the Dippell trading house and for a few years as the office manager of the Nobel Oil Import Ltd in Vyborg. Arthur Lindstr�m was married to Elin Olsson, and while in Verla, they had a daughter, Ellen Alice.

Herman Uno H�ckert (1866–1939)

Uno H�ckert was born in Raahe and attended a 3-year business school there, from which he graduated as one of its first students in 1886. His father was sea captain Emil H�ckert, who died at the age of 49 in 1876. In 1887, Uno moved to the service of the Nordic Bank in Helsinki and from there moved to the bank's headquarters in Vyborg. In 1892-93, H�ckert continued his business studies in Hull and Hanover. After returning to Vyborg, he worked as an accountant and correspondent for Dippell and moved to Verla with his wife in 1898. After five years in Verla, he was elected office manager of the Stockfors company in Pyht�� in 1903 and returned to Vyborg in 1907 to work for the Dippells, where he spent a total of 28 years. During that time, he was a procurator for several companies owned by the Dippells. And from 1922 he worked as the director of the Kirvu Felt Factory until the factory was sold and the Dippell trading house closed down in 1927. After this, H�ckert and his family moved to Helsinki, where Uno H�ckert died at the age of 72. Uno H�ckert was married to Thyra S�derlund in 1896. While in Verla, they had a son, Olof Herman.

Lieutenant Carl Gaston Ahrenberg (1878-1921)

Gaston Ahrenberg was born in 1878. His father was the architect, painter and writer Jac. Ahrenberg, who designed several buildings in Finland. Gaston went on a military career and served in the Finnish Dragoon Regiment in Lappeenranta. He was left on termination pay when the dragoon regiment was disbanded in 1901. After this, he worked for a few years in the business sector in Vyborg and St. Petersburg. From Verla he moved to Mikkeli in 1906, where he worked as deputy police chief. In the autumn of 1917, he trained a 120-man mounted Civil Guard in Saksanniemi as a cavalry master. Later he served as head of the general department of the Ministry of War and in 1920 was appointed military assistant in Warsaw. He died in Helsinki after returning from Warsaw.

Edvard Eliksin (1877-1931)

Edvard Eliksin was born in Vyborg, where his Polish father, Adam Mikhailoff, received bourgeois rights after completing 25 years of service in the Russian army. Edvard Eliksin attended elementary school in Vyborg and enrolled in the Swedish Lyceum in Vyborg in 1888. He resigned from the school after attending three grades. There is no information about his later studies. In 1903, he was married to Rosa Frantsila, a shop assistant, and they moved to Verla with their two children in 1906. Eliksin knew several languages. He came to Verla when the company was formed into a limited company in 1906. Eliksin's punctuality and systematic approach are evident in the insurance lists of houses and goods, which he drew up immediately after arriving in Verla. Their children attended the same mill elementary school as the other children in Verla. Helvi, who was born in 1905, studied in Kouvola after the elementary school and then attended the Porvoo Women's College, where she received a certificate from the Finnish class in 1923. After her father fell ill, Helvi helped him as Verla's clerk. Edvard Eliksin died in November 1931 and was buried in Jaala.

Procurator Johan Porkka (1854–1922)

He was born and lived all his life in Vyborg, where he attended a Swedish-language school and then at the age of 15 went to work for the Lydecken & Harling business, which was engaged in import and export. In 1884 he entered the service of W. Dippell. He worked for the Dippell trading house and its companies for 38 years. During these years, he served Wilhelm Dippell, Edvard Dippell and, in his last years, Dagmar Dippell. In addition to his position as the office manager of the trading house, he was the procurator of the companies owned by Dippell, i.e. he had the right to conclude and sign contracts on behalf of the companies. Porkka was also a member of the board of directors of some companies. He served as Verla's procurator during the limited liability company. And during the war years 1914-1918, he drew up minutes of general meetings at which he represented Dagmar Dippell. Johan Porkka enjoyed the trust and expertise of the businessmen of Vyborg. He was the auditor of many companies and associations and a member of the board of the Vyborg Chamber of Commerce. His wife was Hanna (Johanna) Maria n�e Silvendoin. They were married in 1876 and had a daughter and a son.

Written by Hannu Pukkila, who writes about people and peculiarities related to Verla