Krupp
Achievements: Established German armaments industry
Born: April 26, 1812; Essen, Germany
Died: July 14, 1887; Essen, Germany (Aged 75)
Field & Discipline: Business; Armaments
Language: German
Education: Interrupted due to no money
Life & Times:
Krupp’s father, who came from a prosperous family of merchants, spent all his fortune on researching and developing a secret process of manufacturing cast steel. Alfred Krupp was fourteen when his father died but was so capable that he was already running his father’s steel works with seven workmen. He began to manufacture steel rolls and in 1834 he borrowed enough money to expand the business premises and buy a new steam-engine to drive the machinery. As the steel works grew and the workforce increased, Krupp began traveling extensively outside Germany to drum up business. He went to France, England, Vienna, St Petersburg, and Warsaw. In Paris he often made up to thirty visits a day to the goldsmiths who he hoped would buy his steel rollers and die cylinders.
He also went to England, which was then the leading producers of cast steel in Europe. He adopted a false name in order to spy on the industrial processes in England. In 1851 he took a stand at the first international Exhibition at Crystal Palace in London. The most sensational Krupp exhibit was a field-gun with a cast steel barrel which he displayed surrounded by cuirasses weighing ten pounds each which could withstand a musket ball discharged at a distance of only twelve paces. He also exhibited a cast steel ingot weighing a then unheard-of 4,300 lbs. Although the gun attracted attention world-wide no one bought it because too expensive.
It was the railways that rescued the Krupp concern. The railways were a rapidly expanding industry but were plagued by axle and spring breakages, and failure of tyres at welding points. In 1852 Krupp produced what he always considered his most important invention: the first weld-less cast steel railway tyre. There was a huge demand from the railways and he also sold colossal quantities of cast steel tyres, springs and crankshafts in addition to spoons, minting rolls and shafts for marine vessels. He was now employing over one thousand employees, and in 1855 took the innovative step of establishing a pension fund for retired workers and those whose health broke down.
At the Great Exhibition in Paris in 1855 he displayed an ingot weighing 10,000 lbs and a field gun with a cast steel barrel 100 kg lighter than the bronze barrels in French guns. [impressed] Napoleon III* was impressed enough to order tests.
Krupp was now the most prominent industrialist in Germany and he wrote to his friend the scientist [a pal of] Alexander von Humboldt* grumbling about lack of orders from Prussia. In 1857, Krupp finally got his first order for cast steel barrels - from the Pasha of Egypt. Two years later, the Prussian government put in a big order to Krupp for field guns. The tide had turned because the Crown Prince Wilhelm, who was an outstanding military technician, was now in charge. When Wilhelm succeeded his father, his desire for a professional army was backed by the powerful German chancellor [a pal of] Bismarck* and Krupp got all the contracts he wanted.
His London representative was Alfred Longsdon, who happened to be the brother-in-law of [had contact with] Bessemer’s* best friend, Frederick Longsdon. Through this connection, Krupp got hold of the improved cast steel manufacturing process invented by Bessemer which, together with open-hearth firing, he introduced into Europe. He experienced some problems with the production of his cannon at first but eventually overcame opposition from English manufacturers and became the foremost armament producer in Europe.
He founded the Krupp co-operative society to provide for the purchase of food at subsidized prices, provided schools, and built blocks and hutments with varied rental structures to meet housing needs. During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, the German guns supplied by Krupp proved their superiority. In 1871 Krupp went to England and in the resort of Torquay he drew up his “General Regulations” for the administration of his works. He standardized every procedure to put his workforce of 12,000 into perfect order. In the same year an audit at the works discovered that the Krupp assets had been greatly overvalued and the threat of bankruptcy loomed. Krupp became embittered and depressed and handed over most of the management to his son. He built his own shooting range at Meppen and in 1879 staged a great international shooting trial – although only Krupp guns were fired. The range was later used by the physicist [gun-range used by] Ernst Mach* for his ballistic experiments. In his last years, Krupp belatedly took an interest in the arts.
He had plays performed at his villa by members of the Dusseldorf theatre and he hired the composer [hired] Humperdinck* to play for him daily.
By the time of his death he had supplied arms to forty-six nations. In 1886, [works visited by] CM Schwab*, who became a leading member of the American steel industry, was sent by [work related to] Carnegie* to visit the Essen works as part of his work experience. In 1893, the Krupp works financed [works financed] Diesel* in his development of his engine.
Extra Connections: The Krupp industrial empire influenced [influenced] Gropius*
Assessment: Krupp developed the cast steel industry in Germany and became the biggest armament producer in Europe.
Oneliner: Alfred Krupp, creator of the cast steel industry and armaments leader
Bibliography:
- Batty, Peter, The House of Krupp, Secker & Warburg, London, 1966.
- Klass, Gert von, Krupps, The Story of an Industrial Empire, Sidgwick and Jackson, London, 1954.
- Menne, Bernhard, Krupp, or the Lords of Essen, William Hodge & Co. Ltd., London, 1937.
Father: Friedrich Krupp
Mother: Therese Wilhelmi
Siblings: Hermann; 2 sisters
Spouse: Bertha Eichhoff
Children: Friedrich Albert