The Krupp family, a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG in modern times, merged with Thyssen in 1999 to form ThyssenKrupp AG, a large industrial conglomerate. Map of Germany showing Essen Essen [ˈɛsn̩] is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... // Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. ... Boxes of ammunition clog a warehouse in Baghdad Ammunition is a generic military term meaning (the assembly of) a projectile and its propellant. ... The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ... Family Business is also the title of an American reality TV series. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... German industrial company ThyssenKrupp AG, with about 200,000 employees, mainly operates in the steel industry, but also in the automotive, industrial construction, and shipbuilding areas, as well as manufacturing elevators and providing other technologies and services. ... A conglomerate is a large company that consists of divisions of often seemingly unrelated businesses. ...

Overview

The Krupp family, 1931

Friedrich Krupp (1787 – 1826) launched the family's metal-based activities, building a small steel-foundry in Essen in 1811. His son, Alfred (1812 – 1887), known as "the Cannon King" or as "Alfred the Great", invested heavily in new technology to become a significant manufacturer of railway material and locomotives. He also invested in fluidized hotbed technologies (notably the Bessemer process) and acquired many mines in Germany and France. He also invested in subsidized housing for his workers and started a program of health and retirement benefits. The company began to make steel cannons in the 1840s - especially for the Russian, Turkish, and Prussian armies. Low non-military demand and government subsidy meant that the company specialized more and more in weapons: by the late 1880s the manufacture of armaments represented around 50% of Krupp's total output. When Alfred started with the firm, it had five employees. At his death twenty thousand people worked for Krupp - making it the world's largest industrial company. Download high resolution version (1024x632, 267 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1024x632, 267 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1826 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... // Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. ... 1811 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Krupp family is a prominent 400-year-old German family from Essen, famous for their steel production and manufacture of ammunition and armaments. ... 1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1887 is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ... Bessemer Converter, Schematic Diagram The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. ... Events and Trends Technology First use of anaesthesia in an operation, by Crawford Long War, peace and politics First signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi New Zealand. ... // Events and Trends Technology Development and commercial production of electric lighting Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. ... A company in the broadest sense is an aggregation of people who stay together for a common purpose. ...

During World War I some criticized Krupp's policy of selling cannons to the Entente as well as to the Central Powers, a policy which generated high profits. (Ford and GM allegedly acted similiarly during World War II - however, the American parent companies did not control the German GM and Ford subsidiaries during hostilities.) World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... Entente, meaning a diplomatic understanding, may refer to a number of agreements: The Entente Cordiale, 1904 between France and the United Kingdom. ... The Central Powers are depicted in red. ... The Ford Motor Company (often referred to simply as Ford; sometimes nicknamed Fords or FoMoCo, (NYSE: F) is an automobile maker founded by Henry Ford in Detroit, Michigan, and incorporated on June 16, 1903. ... General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), also known as GM, is a United States-based automobile maker with worldwide operations and brands including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Daewoo, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, and Vauxhall. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ...

After Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, the Krupp works became the center for German rearmament. In 1943, by a special order from Hitler, the company reverted into a family holding, and Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (1907 - 67), son of Gustav Krupp, took over the management. After Germany's defeat, when Gustav proved incapable of going on trial, the U.S. Nuremberg Military Tribunal convicted Alfried as a war criminal (in the so-called "Krupp Trial") for his company's use of slave labor. It sentenced him to 12 years imprisonment and ordered him to sell 75% of his holdings. In 1951, as the Cold War developed and no buyer came forward, the authorities released him, and in 1953 he resumed control of the firm.   Adolf Hitler? (April 20, 1889–April 30, 1945) was the Chancellor of Germany from 1933, and Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor) of Germany from 1934, to his death. ... Sociologists usually define power as the ability to impose ones will on others, even if those others resist in some way. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... The Krupp family is a prominent 400-year-old German family from Essen, famous for their steel production and manufacture of ammunition and armaments. ... 1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, Taffi, (August 7, 1870 - January 16, 1950) ran the German Freidrich Krupp AG heavy industry conglomerate from 1909 until 1941. ... Management (from Old French ménagement the art of conducting, directing, from Latin manu agere to lead by the hand) characterises the process of leading and directing all or part of an organization, often a business, through the deployment and manipulation of resources (human, financial, material, intellectual or intangible). ... ... Chief prosecutor Telford Taylor opens the prosecution case in the Krupp Trial The Subsequent Nuremberg Trials (or, more formally, the Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT)) were a series of twelve U.S. military trials for war crimes against surviving members of the military, political, and... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... The judges in the Krupp trial. ... Slavery is any of a number of related conditions involving control of a person against his or her will, enforced by violence or other clear forms of coercion. ... 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... For the generic term for a high-tension rivalry between countries, see cold war (war). ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

In 1999 the Krupp Group merged with its largest competitor, Thyssen AG; the combined company — Thyssen-Krupp AG, became Germany's fifth-largest firm and one of the largest steel-producers in the world. German industrial company ThyssenKrupp AG, with about 200,000 employees, mainly operates in the steel industry, but also in the automotive, industrial construction, and shipbuilding areas, as well as manufacturing elevators and providing other technologies and services. ...

Early history

The Krupp family first appeared in the historical record in 1587 when Arndt Krupp joined the merchants' guild in Essen. Arndt, a trader, arrived in town just before an epidemic of plague and became one of the city's wealthiest men by purchasing the property of families who fled the epidemic. He died in 1624. His son Anton took over the family business; he oversaw an extensive gunsmithing operation during the Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648), beginning the family's long association with weapon manufacturing. Events February 8 - Mary, Queen of Scots is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she is implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. July 22 - Colony of Roanoke: A group of English settlers arrive on Roanoke Island off of North Carolina to re-establish the... A guild is an association of persons of the same trade or pursuits, formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards of morality or conduct. ... An epidemic is a disease that appears as new cases in the population in a period of time at a rate (the number of new cases in the population during a specified period of time is called the incidence rate) that substantially exceeds what is expected, based on recent experence. ... Plague is usually understood as a generic term for Bubonic plague, the mortal disease caused by the bacillus Yersinia pestis, which is spread by fleas from rats to human beings. ... Events January 24 - Alfonso Mendez, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa. ... Gunsmith - a person who repairs and modifies firearms to blueprint and customer specifications, using handtools and machines, such as grinders, planers, and millers. ... The victory of Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of Breitenfeld (1631) The Thirty Years War was a conflict fought between the years 1618 and 1648, principally in the central European territory of the Holy Roman Empire, but also involving most of the major continental powers. ... The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ...

For the next century the Krupps continued to prosper, generation after generation, becoming Essen's most powerful family and accumulating more and more property in the city. By the mid-eighteenth-century, Friedrich Jodocus Krupp, Arndt's great-great-grandson, headed the Krupp family. In 1751 he married Helene Amalie Ascherfeld (another of Arndt's great-great-grandchildren); Jodocus died 6 years later, which left his widow to run the business - a family first. The Widow Krupp greatly expanded the family's holdings over the decades, acquiring a mill, shares in 4 coal mines, and (in 1800) an iron forge located on a stream near Essen. The term mill, when used by itself, can refer to: Mill (factory) - a place of business for making articles of manufacture, e. ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the extraction of coal from the Earth for use during combustion. ... 1800 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... This article is about smithing. ...

Friedrich's era

In 1807 the progenitor of the modern Krupp firm, Friedrich Krupp, began his commercial career at age 19 when the Widow Krupp appointed him manager of the forge. Friedrich's father, the widow's son, had died 11 years previously; since that time, the widow had tutored the boy in the ways of commerce, as he seemed the logical family heir. Unfortunately, Friedrich proved too ambitious for his own good, and quickly ran the formerly profitable forge into the ground. The widow soon had to sell it away. 1807 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Friedrich continued to squander the family's money. In 1810, the widow died, and in what would prove a disastrous move, left virtually all the Krupp fortune and property to Friedrich. Newly enriched, Friedrich decided to discover the secret of cast (crucible) steel. Benjamin Huntsman, a clockmaker from Sheffield, had pioneered a process to make crucible steel in 1740, but the British had managed to keep it secret since then, forcing others to import the material. But after the Royal Navy began its blockade of Napoleon's empire, British steel became unavailable, and so Napoleon offered a prize of four thousand francs to anyone who could replicate the British process. And this prize piqued Friedrich's interest. 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... // Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. ... Benjamin Huntsman (1704 - 1776), English inventor and steel-manufacturer, was born in Lincolnshire. ... Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in the north of England. ... Bonaparte as general, by Antoine-Jean Gros. ...

Thus, in 1811 Friedrich founded the Krupp Gusstahlfabrik (Cast Steel Works). He soon discovered, however, that he would need a large facility with a power source for success, and so he built a mill and foundry on an Essen stream. Soon Friedrich started pouring huge sums of time and money into the small, waterwheel-powered facility, neglecting all other Krupp business. After much work, Friedrich produced his first smelt steel in 1816. 1811 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Chemical reduction or smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy. ... 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

to be finished

Alfred's era

Alfred Krupp

Alfred Krupp (Alfried Felix Alwyn Krupp April 26, 1812 - July 14, 1887), son of Friedrich Carl, was born in Essen. Friedrich's death in 1826 left his widow as owner of the works. Alfred had to leave school at the age of fourteen and take on the direction of the works. The prospect seemed a cheerless one. His father had spent a considerable fortune in the attempt to cast steel in large blocks: in order to keep the works going at all, the family had to live in extreme frugality, while the youthful director laboured alongside the workmen by day, and carried on his father's experiments at night. For the next fifteen years, the works made barely enough money to cover the workmen's wages. Scanned from German Meyers Encyclopedia, 1906 This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Scanned from German Meyers Encyclopedia, 1906 This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). ... 1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 170 days remaining. ... 1887 is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ...

In 1841, his invention of the spoon-roller brought in enough money for Alfred to enlarge the factory and spend money on casting steel blocks. In 1847 he made his first cannon of cast steel. At the Great Exhibition of 1851 he exhibited a 6 pounder (2.7 kg) cannon made entirely from cast steel, and a solid flawless ingot of steel weighing 2000 pounds (907 kg), more than twice as much as any previously cast. 1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... A small cast-iron cannon on a carriage A cannon is any large tubular firearm designed to fire a heavy projectile over a considerable distance. ... The Great Exhibition was an international exhibition held in Hyde Park London, from 1 May to 15 October 1851 and the first in a series of Worlds Fair exhibitions of culture and industry that were to be a popular 19th century feature. ...

Krupp's exhibit caused a sensation in the engineering world, and the Essen works at once became famous. In 1851, another successful invention, one for the making of railway tyres, made a profit, which Alfred Krupp devoted partly to enlarging and equipping the factory, and partly to his long-cherished scheme - the construction of a breech-loading cannon of cast steel. Krupp himself strongly believed in the superiority of breech-loaders over muzzle-loaders, on account of the greater accuracy of firing and the saving of time, but this view did not win general acceptance in Germany till after the Franco-Prussian war, Krupp supplied his perfected field-pieces throughout the army. Once the quality of this product gained recognition, the factory developed very rapidly. At the time of Alfred Krupp's death in 1887 he employed 45,000 men; and including those in works outside Essen, his rule extended over 75,000 people. Firestone tire A tire (U.S. spelling) or tyre (UK spelling) is a roughly toroidal piece of material placed on the circumference of a wheel, either for the purpose of cushioning or to protect the wheel from wear and tear. ... A breech-loading weapon, usually a gun or cannon, is one where the bullet or shell is inserted, loaded, into the gun at the rear of the barrel, the breech; the opposite of muzzle-loading. ... A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the bullet is loaded from the muzzle of the gun. ... The Franco-Prussian War (July 19, 1870 – May 10, 1871) was fought between France and Prussia (backed by the North German Confederation) allied with the south German states of Baden, Bavaria and Württemberg. ...

Krupp constructed special "colonies" for the employees and their families - with parks, schools and recreation grounds - while the widows' and orphans' and other benefit schemes insured the men and their families against anxiety in case of illness or death.

After Alfred's death in 1887 his only son, Friedrich Alfred, carried on the works.

World War I

In 1917 and 1918, Krupp produced seven Paris Guns. 1917 was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... The Paris Gun was the name of a set of artillery pieces with which the Germans bombarded Paris during World War I. This oversized railway gun was used from March to August 1918. ...

See also

• Krupp Trial

The judges in the Krupp trial. ...

References

• Friz, D. M.: Alfried Krupp und Berthold Beitz — der Erbe und sein Statthalter, Zürich: Orell-Füssli 1988; ISBN 3-280-01852-8.
• Manchester, William (1968). The Arms of Krupp: 1587 - 1968. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. Paperback edition 2003: ISBN 0-316-52940-0.