Editing Krupp (section)

==Overview==
[[Friedrich Krupp]] (1787–1826) launched the family's metal-based activities, building a pioneering [[steel]] [[foundry]] in Essen in 1811.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/company/history |access-date=2024-06-16 |website=thyssenkrupp |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Whitworth |first=Joseph |title=Practical Engineer |date=1887 |publisher=Technical Publishing Company |location=Manchester |pages=288 |language=en}}</ref> After his death, his sons [[Alfred Krupp|Alfred]] and an unidentified brother operated the business in partnership with their mother.<ref name=":1" /> An account cited that, on his deathbed, the elder Krupp confided to Alfred, who was then 14 years old, the secret of steel casting.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gradenwitz |first=Alfred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygQiAQAAMAAJ&dq=Alfred+Krupp+secret+steel&pg=PA136 |title=Scientific American: Supplement |date=1912 |publisher=Scientific American |isbn= |pages=136–137 |language=en}}</ref> In 1848, Alfred became the sole owner of the foundry.<ref name=":1" /> This next generation Krupp (1812–87), known as "the Cannon King" or as "Alfred the Great",<ref>{{Cite book |title=Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Law No. 10, Nuremberg, October 1946-April, 1949: Case 10: U.S. v. Krupp (Krupp case), Volume IX |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1949 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=62 |language=en}}</ref> invested heavily in new technology to become a significant manufacturer of steel rollers (used to make eating utensils) and railway tyres. He also invested in fluidized hotbed technologies (notably the [[Bessemer process]]) and acquired many mines in Germany and [[France]]. Initially, Krupp failed to gain profit from the Bessemer process due to the high phosphorus content of German iron ores. His chemists, however, later learned of the problem and constructed a Bessemer plant called C&T Steel.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Skrabec |first=Quentin Jr. |title=The Metallurgic Age: The Victorian Flowering of Invention and Industrial Science |publisher=McFarland |year=2006 |isbn=0-7864-2326-9 |location=Jefferson, NC |pages=77–78 |language=en}}</ref> Unusual for the era, he provided social services for his workers, including subsidized housing and health and retirement benefits.

[[File:Krupp's great exhibit of guns, Columbian Exposition, by Kilburn, B. W. (Benjamin West), 1827-1909.jpg|thumb|[[Stereoscopic]] image from Krupp's great exhibit of guns at the [[Columbian Exposition]] in 1893]]
The company began to make steel cannons in the 1840s—especially for the Russian, Turkish, and Prussian armies. Low non-military demand and government subsidies 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 Krupp]] 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 (law)|company]] and the [[List of German companies by employees in 1907|largest private company in the German empire]].

Krupp's had a Great Krupp Building with an exhibition of guns at the Columbian Exposition in 1893.

[[File:Krupp works.JPG|thumb|right|An assortment of naval guns and field artillery pieces from the Krupp works in Essen, Germany ({{Circa|1905}})]]
In the 20th century the company was headed by [[Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach]] (1870–1950), who assumed the surname of Krupp when he married the Krupp heiress, [[Bertha Krupp]]. After [[Adolf 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 to a sole-proprietorship, with Gustav and Bertha's eldest son [[Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach]] (1907–67) as proprietor.

After Germany's defeat, Gustav was senile and incapable of standing trial, and the [[Nuremberg Military Tribunal]] convicted Alfried as a [[war criminal]] in the [[Krupp Trial]] for "plunder" and for his company's use of [[Forced labor in Germany during World War II|slave labor]]. It sentenced him to 12 years in prison and ordered him to sell 75% of his holdings. In 1951, as the [[Cold War]] developed and no buyer came forward, the U.S. occupation authorities released him, and in 1953 he resumed control of the firm.

In 1968, the company became an [[Aktiengesellschaft]] and ownership was transferred to the [[Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation]]. In 1999, the Krupp Group merged with its largest competitor, [[Thyssen AG]]; the combined company—[[ThyssenKrupp]], became Germany's [[List of companies of Germany|fifth-largest firm]] and one of the largest steel producers in the world.

In the early 1980s, the company spun off all its operating activities and was restructured as a holding company. VDM Nickel-Technologie was bought in 1989, for high-performance materials, mechanical engineering and electronics. That year, Gerhard Cromme became chairman and chief executive of Krupp. After its hostile takeover of rival steelmaker [[Hoesch AG]] in 1990–1991, the companies were merged in 1992 as "Fried. Krupp AG Hoesch Krupp," under Cromme. After closing one main steel plant and laying off 20,000 employees, the company had a steelmaking capacity of around eight million metric tons and sales of about 28 billion DM (US$18.9 billion). The new Krupp had six divisions: steel, engineering, plant construction, automotive supplies, trade, and services. After two years of heavy losses, a modest net profit of 40 million DM (US$29.2 million) followed in 1994.

In 1997 Krupp attempted a hostile takeover of the larger Thyssen, but the bid was abandoned after resistance from Thyssen management and protests by its workers. Nevertheless, Thyssen agreed to merge the two firms' flat steel operations, and Thyssen Krupp Stahl AG was created in 1997 as a jointly owned subsidiary (60% by Thyssen and 40% by Krupp). About 6,300 workers were laid off. Later that year, Krupp and Thyssen announced a full merger, which was completed in 1999 with the formation of [[ThyssenKrupp]] AG. Cromme and Ekkehard Schulz were named co-chief executives of the new company, operating worldwide in three main business areas: steel, capital goods (elevators and industrial equipment), and services (specialty materials, environmental services, mechanical engineering, and scaffolding services).