Ferdinand Brettauer was born in Hohenems on October 11, 1852 as one of twelve children of Emanuel Brettauer and Elise Wolf. His father had worked together with his brothers as a red tanner and leather merchant, but at the same time had taken over the banking business of their father Ludwig Lämle Brettauer. Already his great-grandfather Herz Lämle Brettauer had been the first to start a money exchange business in Hohenems around 1800.
In 1888 the Hohenems bank was closed down. What remained was the Bregenz banking business “Ludwig Brettauers sel. Erben”, which Ferdinand Brettauer managed independently until he and Hans Sonvico (banking house “Payr & Sonvico”) jointly founded the Bank für Tirol und Vorarlberg (BTV) in Innsbruck. Ferdinand Brettauer continued to manage the Bregenz branch of BTV until 1918.
In 1908 Ferdinand Brettauer bought the Villa Liebenstein estate in Bregenz at auction, which changed hands again just two years later. In 1916 he became a member of the supervisory board of Vorarlberger Zementwerke. Ferdinand Brettauer remained unmarried and childless, and it is not known when he died.

Photo: The six sons of Elise Wolf and Emanuel Brettauer.
From left to right: Hermann Brettauer (St. Gallen), Ferdinand Brettauer (Bregenz), Carl Brettauer (Berlin, later Zurich), Eugen Brettauer (Vienna), Josua Brettauer (St. Gallen), Gustav Brettauer (Bologna); all born in Hohenems.