Friederich Liebe

Liebe was born on 18 January 1862 in Wittenberg, Prussia, to father Edward Liebe. When he was 15, he left school to become a builder's apprentice. Following the completion of his apprenticeship, he moved to Vienna and attended a technical school where he studied building. Liebe helped to construct the Budapest Opera House, before joining a partnership with his brother-in-law Joseph Klein. They worked on Bulgaria's National Assembly Building, and constructed military barracks, colleges, and a bridge. ==Australian builder==

Liebe and Klein moved to Adelaide, South Australia in 1885, and later to Melbourne after their work was noticed by Melbourne-based architects. While based in Carlton Liebe built the markets at Newmarket and houses in Carlton. He also constructed several other hotels, banks, and railway stations for the Midland Railway Company of Western Australia. ==Agriculture==

Liebe had bought of land at Wubin in 1908. At the outbreak of the First World War, with the construction industry declining, he redirected his attention to agriculture. He sold his construction business in 1914, cleared his land, and established a wheat crop. In 1929–30 Liebe produced 100,000 bags of wheat, an Australian record. The Great Depression saw him lose £A52,900, equivalent to in , so Liebe sold properties he owned in Perth, and diversified into sheep farming. By 1945 he had a flock of 23,000 sheep which yielded more than 450 bales of wool. ==Death and legacy==

Liebe died, unmarried, on 4 March 1950 in Perth. He was buried in Dalwallinu cemetery's Congregational section. At probate, his estate was valued at £A194,768, equivalent to in . The Liebe Group, a non-profit farming research group originally called LBW, was renamed after Friederich Liebe. Liebe was recognised as one of the most influential Western Australian businesspeople in The West Australian 2013 list of the 100 most influential. ==References==