Editing Merck Group (section)

===20th century activities===
====Nazi years====
In the years of the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi rule]], the company was led by Karl Emanuel Merck who became a member of the [[Nazi Party]] in 1933 and subsequently received the title of [[Wehrwirtschaftsführer]]. In addition, Merck was president of the Hessian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as performing an advisory function in the Expert Advisory Council for National Health ("Sachverständigenrat für [[Volksgesundheit]]") of the [[Nazi Party]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Von Adelung bis Zwangsarbeit – Stichworte zu Militär und Nationalsozialismus in Darmstadt |url=https://dfg-vk-darmstadt.de/Lexikon_Auflage_2/MerckKarl.htm |website=Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft – Vereinigte KriegsdienstgegnerInnen Gruppe Darmstadt |access-date=8 May 2020 |language=de}}</ref> During World War II, Merck was manufacturing war essential products such as narcotics, vitamins, [[biocides]] and other chemicals. According to the company's account, 265 [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced laborers]] were working in the plant in Darmstadt, most of them women from Russia and Poland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stationen unserer Geschichte ab 1917 |url=https://www.merckgroup.com/de/company/who-we-are/history/milestones/20th-century-expropriation-america.html |website=Merck Group |access-date=8 May 2020 |language=de}}</ref> Additionally, several hundred [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II#Classifications|Fremdarbeiter]] ("foreign workers") from France and Belgium were employed throughout the war years. An air raid on 12 December 1944 destroyed nearly 70 percent of the plant and killed 55 employees.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burhop |first1=Carsten |last2=Kißener |first2=Michael |last3=Schäfer |first3=Hermann |last4=Scholtyseck |first4=Joachim |title=Merck : From a pharmacy to a global corporation. |date=2018 |publisher=C.H. Beck |isbn=9783406700408 |page=332 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZrZ2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT332}}</ref>

====Post-war====
In 1973, Merck Ltd. acquired BDH Chemicals<ref>{{cite web|url=http://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/people/cp17426/british-drug-houses-limited|title=British Drug Houses Limited|publisher=The Science Museum Group|access-date=1 July 2017}}</ref> from the [[Glaxo Group]].
[[File:Merck KGaA Pyramide Gruener Turm.jpg|thumb|Merck visitor centre in Darmstadt, which stood from the early 1980s to around 2015]]
In the early 1980s Merck Group built a visitor center at its Darmstadt headquarters that featured a pyramid.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

Merck was legally named ''E. Merck [[Partnership|oHG]]'' until 1995. In 1995 it was listed on the [[Frankfurt Stock Exchange]] and became a [[KGaA]], legally named ''Merck KGaA''.{{cn|date=June 2024}}