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Came to this country from Switzerland and established a silk manufacturing business in the Steel City in partnership with her brother, William Martin.


AMADEUS B. FICHTER stands today as one of the leading and influential residents of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, his extensive and important business interests making him a leading representative of commercial and manufacturing interests in the Lehigh Valley. He entered upon the active duties of life unaided by influential friends or adventitious circumstances. He has been the sole architect of his own fortune, molding his own character and shaping his own destiny. His native talent had led him out of humble circumstances to large worldly successes through the opportunity that is the pride of our American life. His success, however, is not to be measured by material standards alone, for he has developed that type of character which makes for high ethical ideals in business and in society.

Mr. Fichter is a native of Basel, Switzerland, where his ancestors had resided through many generations. It was the year following their marriage that Mr. and Mrs. Fichter came to Bethlehem, where they have since made their home. Immediately afterward Mr. Fichter entered upon the manufacture of silk in connection with his brother-in-law, William E. Martin, and has developed a business of extensive proportions, theirs being one of the largest silk factories in Pennsylvania. He began operations with only a few looms, which he imported from Switzerland, but has increased its capacity to meet the growing demands of his trade, and now has a plant that not only covers much area, but is equipped with the latest improved machinery known to silk manufacture. He possesses natural mechanical ability, and has thus been able to superintend the practical workings of the factory, and at the same time he has kept thoroughly informed concerning the latest processes used in his line of business. Today the plant embraces a four story factory, two hundred and fifty feet long, and employment is furnished to about two hundred operatives. This extensive enterprise has been built up under the personal supervision and direction of Mr. Fichter, and the product of the house finds a ready sale upon the market. Possessing little capital at the outset of his career, he has gradually developed an enterprise which in extent and importance is now classed among the foremost productive industries of the Lehigh Valley. He has been watchful of all details of his business and of all indications pointing toward advancement and from the beginning has had abiding faith in the ultimate success of his enterprise. Justice has ever been maintained in his relations to patrons and employees and many of those who began with him during the early existence of his ennterprise are still in his service. In business affairs he is notably prompt, reliable and energetic. He forms his plans readily, is determined in their execution, and to him there has come the attainment of a leading position in connection with the great material industries of the valley. He has found in each transitional stage of his business career an incentive for further development and the acquirement of broader knowledge, and each forward step he has made has led to still greater progress and advancement. He has gained wealth, yet it is not alone the goal for which he has striven, for he belongs to that class of representative American citizens who promote the general prosperity while advancing individual interests.

Mr. Fichtcr is a man of strong intellectual qualities and his attention has been by no means confined exclusively to his business, although in manufacturing circles he has achieved a success that many would regard as an excellent life work. He has ever been a close observer of men and affairs, and his reading has covered a wide range leading to the acquirement of scholarly attainments. He is a patient listener, ever ready to accord to any the courtesy of an interview, and while firm in his convictions he is at the same time ready to receive the opinions of others that he might gain higher knowledge and look upon life from a still broader view. His home relations are largely ideal; for there is between Mr. and Mrs. Fichter a marked congeniality of taste and temperament. Mrs. Fichter is a lady of superior social grace and charming manner, and presides over her home with the most cordial and pleasing hospitality. The Fichters residence is a most attractive one, because of the beauty and artistic adornments of the home and of the good cheer which there reigns supreme. Mr. Fichter entertains many original and attractive ideas concerning architecture and design which are exemplified in his home. With a deep appreciation of the beauty of color and harmony of form, he has carried out his original ideas in the adornment of a number of the rooms. The walls of one room are covered with fine China paintings which contain scenes of some historical event. This fine collection was brought from Switzerland, where it was selected with great care by Mr. Fichter, who has it most artistically arranged. The walls of another room are covered with original designs with perfectly harmonious coloring, and the beautiful soft mellow glow that floods these rooms coming from lights which in themselves are invisible (being set behind a cornice at the top of the room), is an evidence of the artistic appreciation of Mr. and Mrs. Fichter for the effect produced by light and shadow. Much of the furniture of the house is hand carved, and most of it was, brought from a castle in Switzerland. Some pieces are most antique; the date being carved with the unmistakable characters of 1603. It is amid such attractive surroundings that the hospitality of Mr. Fichter and his accomplished wife is extended to friends and strangers alike, and an evening spent in their home is one that leaves to the visitor many pleasant memories.