German mining and metallurgical company

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Deutsche Bergwerks- und Hüttenbau GmbH (DBHG) was a spin-off of the Reichswerke Hermann Göring (RHG), which planned various projects in the metallurgical sector and monitored their execution. The supervised projects included a. the iron and steel works in Salzgitter , the steelworks of the later Voestalpine in Linz , various coal mines in the Ukraine , as well as the Geilenberg program . After the war, the DBHG was an independent engineering office based in Salzgitter.

prehistory

As part of the four-year plan , the government of the German Reich decided in 1936 to expand ore mining in the Salzgitter area and also to build an iron and steel works for smelting these ores. For this purpose the Reichswerke Hermann Göring (RHG) were founded. Paul Pleiger became general manager in 1937 . The motivation for the creation of the RHG was, in addition to striving for self-sufficiency, also the intention to reduce the dependence on the Ruhr industry with the help of a large state-owned coal and steel company.

The German-American metallurgical specialist Hermann Brassert was commissioned to build the “Braunschweig Hut” . There were far-reaching difficulties between the Brassert company and RHG. In particular, the projected costs were far exceeded. At the beginning of the war, Brassert and most of his technicians withdrew and the RHG had to reorganize their ironworking activities. Friedrich Kocks became head of the steelworks department of the RHG . Despite considerable difficulties, the first of a total of four planned blocks was completed by 1941. After the metallurgical construction department had been consolidated, it was spun off from RHG in the summer of 1940 as Deutsche Bergwerks- und Hüttenbau GmbH (DBHG). The general manager was again Friedrich Kocks. Starting in 1941, members of the supervisory board were Paul Pleiger, Conrad Delius and Wilhelm Meinberg .

From the foundation to the end of the war

The DBHG was primarily an engineering office; it planned various projects in the field of metallurgical construction and monitored their execution. The number of employees is given as up to 1500. Around the time the DBHG was founded, the construction of the Braunschweig smelter was slowed down because the Salzgitter ore no longer appeared to be significant after the conquest of Lorraine and the annexation of Austria (with the considerable ore deposits in Styria). The DBHG continued to oversee the construction of the Voestalpine steelworks in Linz. Further projects existed in Hayange (German: Hayingen / Lothringen), Moravská Ostrava (German: Mährisch Ostrau), Most (German: Brüx) and Katowice (German: Kattowitz).

As part of the construction supervision, the DBHG was involved in the forced labor. To what extent the building supervision included joint responsibility for the multiple human rights violations in the area of ​​forced labor is largely unclear.

A few months after the start of the Russian campaign, some 100 DBHG technicians were loaned to the Berg- und Hüttenwerkgesellschaft Ost (BHO) in order to accompany the restarting of the coal mines near Dnepropetrovsk in the Ukraine . Attempts were also made to blow up the huts near Stalino (today Donetsk ), but this did not succeed. The main problem for coal mining was the availability of labor. These could be compulsorily obliged by the population, but were mostly too exhausted for physical work due to the hunger strategy of the Wehrmacht. To remedy this, Pleiger put through a Führer order in July 1941 to improve the miners' diet. As a result, the number of miners rose to up to 100,000. In July 1943, coal production reached a level of 400,000 t / month and thus made a significant contribution to supplying the army. This work ended in autumn 1943 with the withdrawal from Ukraine.

In the final phase of the war, the main task of the DBHG was to provide planning support for the Geilenberg program. Edmund Geilenberg had been appointed by Hitler as "General Commissioner for Immediate Measures" in May 1944 at Pleiger's instigation. In this role he tried to restore the army’s gasoline supply by decentralizing the hydrogenation plants . The mineral oil supply was a central bottleneck in the final phase of the war due to the consequent bombing of the hydrogenation plants by the Allies. Up to 350,000 people, including 100,000 concentration camp inmates, worked in the “Geilenberg Program”. The number of victims among the forced laborers was considerable. At Operation Desert alone (a small part of the program) there were 4,000 deaths over the course of about half a year.

Post war history

In the summer of 1945 there were internal disputes, as a result of which the DBHG was divided into the branches "Wermelskirchen" and "Heiningen". The Wermelskirchen branch was separated from the DBHG in 1948 and then operated under the name "Friedrich Kocks GmbH Wermelskirchen". The remaining DBHG initially had to struggle with financial difficulties, but from 1951 successfully participated in the reconstruction of the Salzgitter plant and then carried out various construction projects, especially abroad. In 1972 the DBHG changed its name to "SZ Consult GmbH".

literature

  • August Meyer: Hitler's Holding. The Reichswerke 'Hermann Göring , Europa Verlag Hamburg 1999
  • Matthias Riedel: Mining and iron and steel industry in the Ukraine under German occupation (1941-1944) In: Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 21 (3) 1972. Online version
  • Matthias Riedel: Iron and coal for the Third Reich. Paul Pleiger's position in the Nazi economy. Musterschmidt, Göttingen 1973
  • Tanja Penter : Coal for Hitler. The Donbass under German occupation. In insight, issue 6th bulletin of the Fritz Bauer Institute , 2011 ISSN  1868-4211

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Meyer, chap. II
  2. ↑ Meyer, chap. II.5
  3. ↑ a b c Lower Saxony Economic Archives, NWA 2, No. 1502
  4. ^ Riedel: Iron and Coal for the Third Reich, p. 250
  5. ^ H. Tümmler: Four years of Hermann-Göring-Werke in Salzgitter , Melchior Verlag 2009
  6. ↑ a b Lower Saxony Economic Archives, NWA 2, No. 1503
  7. ↑ a b Pleiger Defense Document Book XI A. Doc.PP 202
  8. ^ Gerd Wysocki: Forced labor in the steel company. Salzgitter and the Reichswerke Hermann Göring 1937-1945 , Magni-Buchladen Braunschweig, 1982
  9. ^ Riedel: Mining and iron and steel industry in the Ukraine, p. 245
  10. ^ Penter: Coal for Hitler
  11. ↑ Lower Saxony Economic Archives , NWA 2, No. 3528