Christian Jakob Zahn (* September 12, 1765 in Althengstett; † July 8, 1830 in Calw) was a German lawyer, musician, politician and industrialist.
Christian Jakob Zahn was a son of the pastor Johann Christian Zahn and a grandson of the merchant Johann Georg Zahn. After the death of his father in 1772, he moved to Calw with his mother Susanne Sophie, née Horn. He was supposed to become a theologian and was accepted at the monastery seminary in Bebenhausen. Later he studied theology in Tübingen for one semester. His interest, however, was more in law, music and the natural sciences, so he changed his educational plans. In 1787, he graduated as Dr. jur. with the dissertation ''De fictionibus iuris Romani''. Subsequently, he then became a chancery lawyer in Stuttgart. Later he relocated to Calw where he initially worked as a lawyer.
Together with Johann Friedrich Cotta, whom he had met during his studies, he ran ''Cotta'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung'' (bookstore) in Tübingen from 1789. Through Cotta, he also came into contact with Friedrich Schiller. A letter from Schiller to Zahn dated May 4, 1795, has survived. Schiller suggested to Zahn that he publish English, Italian, and Spanish literature for the German-speaking public, but Zahn declined, feeling more competent in other fields. Nevertheless, he served on the editorial board of the ''Horen'' from 1795 and founded the ''Allgemeine Zeitung'' in 1798.
From 1798, Zahn was a member of the ''Zeughandelscompagnie Schill und Comp'' the successor to the ''Calwer Compagnie'' which had ceased to exist in 1797. In addition, from 1809 he was involved in the Saffiangerberei (Saffian leather tannery) of his father-in-law Jakob Friedrich Hasenmayer in Hirsau, which he took over completely after his death in 1811.
