Wilhelm Röhss "The Younger"

Wilhelm Röhss "the younger" (1834-1900) was the son of Wilhelm August Fredrik Röhss. He inherited the family business and continued father's industrial activities. Along with his brother, he invested in iron works in Värmland and in saws in the booming timber industry in Norrland.

He attended the Göteborgs handelsinstitut (Gothenburg School of Trade). He was a city councillor in Gothenburg, a member of the board of the bank Göteborgs enskilda bank, and in several railroad companies. He was consul in Gothenburg for the city of Hamburg, and later for the German empire.

Of his fortune, Wilhelm Röhss left 1,5 million Swedish kronor to the city. 250,000 kronor were given to the establishment of the craft and design museum known at the time as Röhsska konstslöjdmuseet (now Röhsska museet för konsthantverk och design, and in English as the Röhsska Museum). It was built at Vasagatan in central Gothenburg and opened in 1916. Another quarter of a million was used immediately for other purposes. The remaining million was left to a trust, Röhss' donationsfond. The interest of the capital was to be used for the promotion of Gothenburg's commerce, industry or communications. The first payment, in 1911, was used for a new building for Wihelm Röhss's alma mater, the Göteborgs handelsinstitut. The institute later merged with the Hvitfeldtska gymnasiet, and the building is part of the current Hvitfeldtska campus.