History of the Breed

The early history of the Leonberger is clouded and tumultuous, revolving around the enthusiasms and exploits of Heinrich Essig (1809-1889).  Essig was a successful politician with a genius for marketing and public relations.  He was an alderman and a prominent citizen in Leonberg, a town on the outskirts of Stuttgart in southern Germany.  (Leonberg is just 50 kilometers from Rottweil, another famous town that gave its name to the dog breed that originated there.)

Essig made a successful living as a professional animal trader who surrounded himself with a variety of rare and exotic animals.  In dogs, he preferred large and imposing breeds, which he bred, bought and sold internationally. In our time, we would probably consider him an irresponsible puppy-mill owner.  He bought and sold dogs for a span of fifty years, trading sometimes 200 to 300 dogs a year at the height of his career.

Like other entrepreneurial individuals, Essig's strong suit was vision and marketing communications, not attention to detail! So, unfortunately, he kept no detailed logs or records of his breedings, nor did he believe it necessary to write a standard for the breed he created. What we know of the development of the 

(History Continued)