# The Krupps

The steel and armaments dynasty that armed the German Empire and the Nazis, and its reckoning at Nuremberg.

*This story part of: The corporation*
*This story part of: State, law, and coercion*

## 20 November 1811 — Friedrich Krupp founds the cast steel works in Essen

Friedrich Krupp founded a cast steel works in Essen in November 1811. The struggling firm became the seed of one of Europe's greatest industrial empires.

## 1826 — Alfred Krupp takes over the family firm

Alfred Krupp inherited the near-bankrupt works at age fourteen when his father died in 1826. He rebuilt it into a leading steel producer over the following decades.

## 1851 — Krupp exhibits a cast steel cannon at the Great Exhibition

At the 1851 Great Exhibition in London Krupp showed a large flawless block of cast steel and a steel cannon. The display announced the firm's move into steel artillery.

## c. 1852 — Krupp perfects the seamless railway tyre

In the early 1850s Krupp developed the seamless steel railway tyre that made the firm's fortune. Three interlocking rings from this product became the company's emblem.

## 1870 to 1871 — Krupp guns prove decisive in the Franco-Prussian War

Krupp steel breech-loading artillery gave Prussian forces a marked advantage in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to 1871. The victory confirmed Krupp as the leading arms maker of the new German Empire.

## c. 1871 — Krupp becomes the arsenal of the German Empire

After German unification in 1871 Krupp supplied artillery to the imperial army and to many foreign states. The firm grew into one of the largest industrial employers in Europe.

## c. 1890 — Krupp expands into warships and armour plate

Under Friedrich Alfred Krupp the firm moved into naval armour and shipbuilding in the 1890s, acquiring the Germaniawerft shipyard. It became central to the German naval buildup before the First World War.

## 1906 — Gustav von Bohlen takes the Krupp name

When Bertha Krupp inherited the firm in 1906 she married Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach, who was granted the right to add the Krupp name. Gustav ran the company for the next three decades.

## 1914 — Krupp's Big Bertha howitzers used in the First World War

In 1914 Krupp's huge Big Bertha siege howitzers smashed Belgian fortresses at the start of the war. Krupp was the main artillery supplier to the German war effort.

## 1919 — Treaty of Versailles restricts Krupp arms production

The 1919 Treaty of Versailles sharply limited German arms manufacture, forcing Krupp to shift to civilian products. The firm quietly kept some weapons design work alive during the 1920s.

## 1933 — Gustav Krupp backs Hitler and German rearmament

After Adolf Hitler took power in 1933 Gustav Krupp supported the regime and the firm profited from large-scale rearmament. Krupp became a pillar of the Nazi war economy.

*Source: The Role of Business Elites*

## 1940 to 1945 — Krupp uses forced and slave labour in the Second World War

During the Second World War Krupp used tens of thousands of prisoners of war, forced labourers and concentration camp inmates in its plants. Conditions were often brutal and many workers died.

## 1943 — Alfried Krupp gains sole control under the Lex Krupp

A special 1943 Nazi decree, the Lex Krupp, let Alfried Krupp take sole ownership of the family firm. It kept the great arms company under a single controlling heir.

## 31 July 1948 — Nuremberg court convicts Alfried Krupp

In the Krupp Trial before a United States military tribunal, Alfried Krupp and other executives were convicted on 31 July 1948 of plunder and the use of slave labour. Alfried was sentenced to twelve years in prison and the loss of his property.

## 31 January 1951 — Alfried Krupp's sentence commuted and property restored

United States High Commissioner John J. McCloy commuted Alfried Krupp's sentence to time served in early 1951 and restored his property. Krupp returned to rebuild the firm during West Germany's economic recovery.

## 1999 — Krupp merges with Thyssen to form ThyssenKrupp

In 1999 the Krupp group merged with rival Thyssen to create the industrial company ThyssenKrupp. The deal ended Krupp's separate existence after nearly two centuries.