DYNASTY OF DEATH

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 150, 22 December 1945, Page 6

DYNASTY OF DEATH

THE KRUPPS

Cannon Makers Of Essen

Alfried Krupp yon Bohlen und Halbach of Essen, Germany, head of the huge armament concern which was the prime source of (German military might, was, until recently, one of the most powerful men in the world. Today his power has gone and his fortunes are uncertain.

At least as much as Adolf Hitler, the Krupp family is responsible for the casualties of Allied soldiers in World War 11. With other German industrialists they first made Hitler and then they made his guns.

They had made guns for the Kaiser, too, in. World War I, and for Germany in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, and for both sides in the Austro-Prus-sian War of 1866. Krupp cannon have been fired round the world for 100 years. The Krupp dynasty of death traces all the way back to the 16th Century and the 30 Years' War when the son of the first Krupp grew rich on profits made from arms and armour. The wealth of the 38-year-old Alfried Krupp, concentrated in the great Ruhr metal and armament plants, might seem to be invested largely in ruins today, but it is still incalculable. Much of it lies underground, in oil, coal, and iron ore. Financially, the tentacles of Krupp reach into many lands, through the complicated licence deals, investments, marriage ties. An octopus, as the victors in Europe may discover, is hard to kill. The Allies failed to neutralise Krupp after World War I. But if they are tougher this time, the history of the Krupp enterprises and the dynasty of death may finally be ended. ! MANSION UNDAMAGED BY BOMBS. When the Allies took Essen, they found the Krupp mansion, in striking contrast to the Krupp works, entirely undamaged. One bomb hit the estate, destroying the racing stables. Villa Hugel was a logical billet for high Allied occupation officials and visiting "YIPs" (Very Important Persons). The Allied Control Commission requisitioned it and moved in. Alfried Krupp moved to servants' quarters. Today members of the British Ruhr Coal Syndicate live there.

stunt they ever pulled was a fantastic medieval pageant, staged in 1912 on the 100 th anniversary of the firm, lhe citizens of Essen still talk about it.

In the mansion's sombre grandeur these men now eat their meals, relax, discuss the complicated problems of rehabilitation and administration of the vast industries under their control. One of their most important YIPs was Field-Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery. The Krupps like to. glorify the family's history more than the family's business. The biggest glorification

A year was spent in preparing costumes and suits of real armour were made at tremendous expense. Kaiser Wilhelm was invited and so were princes and aristocrats from numerous European countries.

With true vainglory, the Krupps wanted the pageant to symbolise the birth of the Krupp firm in circumstances of imperial splendour. Ihey placed the time in the reign of Emperor Maximilian I, in the early 16th Century. Actually, the family can trace its history only back to 1587, to one Arndt Krupe, a rather penurious wine merchant. His son Anton married into a patrician family which made armour.

The Krupps prospered during the 30 Years' War but afterwards maintained their prosperity chiefly by moneylending deals. Towards the end of

the 18th Century the family fortunes declined sadly because of incompetent handling.

In the middle 1800s Alfred Krupp perfected the method of casting steel cannon.

Then the Krupps really became great in their field, acquired practical monopoly of Germany's arms industry, built battleships and the first German submarine.

240 MEN KILLED IN ACCIDENT.

The pageant of 1912 never took place although it had a dress rehearsal. On the day of the anniversary there was a terrible accident at the plant; 240 men were killed in an explosion, and the festivities were cancelled.

Another symbol of the birth of the Krupp works, a small cottage, has proved more permanent. To visitors at the Krupp plant it is pointed out as the humble birthplace of the present firm, where Friedrich Krupp laid the foundations of the Krupp empire in 1812.

However, this story, too, is a myth. Friedrich was an irresponsible visionary who gambled heavily on grandiose enterprises which never paid off. Although he founded the first Krupp steel plant, he was so deeply in debt that he had to' sell his big house and move into the cottage of his manager. In the year the war began, the German Government declared the Krupp works a "model NationalSocialist factory," an accolade which filled its then director, the elder Krupp yon Bohlen, "with justifiable pride." But its model standards were based on output, not welfare of employees. Krupp never built an air-raid shelter for his workers because stoppages during attacks would impair output. Many of his shops, however, turned out 10,000 tons of armour plate monthly until the Allied bombs stopped production in October, 1944. In the huge gunshops the Allies discovered some unfinished gun barrels six feet in diameter. How many Krupp workers died in the great arms works no one knows, but there are dead beneath the ruins. Today as Essen tries to restore its shattered life work, it is still hampered by hundreds of unexploded bombs. Ruins total about 6,000,000 cubic yards which will take an estimated 10 years to clear.

Published by Arrangement with "Life."