Hoesch AG

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Entrance to the Hoesch headquarters in Dortmund Hoesch Eingang Dortmund 2006.jpg
Entrance to the Hoesch headquarters in Dortmund

Hoesch AG was an important steel and mining company with headquarters in Dortmund and locations in the Ruhr area and Siegen.

Contents

In 1871, Hoesch was founded by Leopold Hoesch. In 1938, Hoesch employed 30,000 people. [1]

In 1972, the prominent steel producer merged with the Dutch Hoogovens steel company to form Estel. [2]

It was formerly the largest employer in Dortmund. [2] In 1982, the merger with Dutch company Estel was stopped by Detlev Karsten Rohwedder, and Hoesch became again an independent company. [3] In 1991, German competitor Krupp bought Hoesch. [4]

Nazi involvement

Friedrich Springorum represented Hoesch AG at the Secret Meeting of 20 February 1933, at which prominent industrialists met with Adolf Hitler to finance the Nazi Party. [5] After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Hoesch served as an armaments company producing Panther and Tiger II tank casings, tank ammunition, gun barrels and armor plate. During World War II, the company made extensive use of forced laborers. In December 1944, over one-third of the workers at Hüttenwerk Hoesch were forced laborers. [6]

See also

The steelworks were later targeted by the Raf on 23rd May 1943 Bomber command launched a major attack on the industrial complex which was supporting the nazi regime.

Of the 826 Aircraft which left England 38 aircraft were lost but the pathfinders marked their targets well resulting in a successful strike.

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References

  1. "Das Phantom: Karl Hoesch (Kein Ersatz für Albert)". DerWesten (in German). Funke Mediengruppe. 9 November 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  2. 1 2 Josef Esser and Werner Wäth (1986). "Overcoming the Steel Crisis in the FRG". In Yves Mény and Vincent Wright (ed.). The Politics of Steel: Western Europe and the Steel Industry in the Crisis Years (1974-1984). European University Institute. p. 670. ISBN   9783110105179 . Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  3. Spiegel.de:Unzumutbarer Partner (October 4, 1982) (german)
  4. Zeit.de: Ein Mythos verblasst (german), August 28, 1992
  5. recording of Martin Blank for Paul Reusch printed in: Dirk Stegmann (1973). Zum Verhältnis von Großindustrie und Nationalsozialismus 1930-1933. Bonn-Bad Godesberg. p. 477.
  6. "Hoesch im Nationalsozialismus: Texte, Bilder, Dokumente im Hoeschmuseum in Dortmund". Nordstadtblogger. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2022.