Fritz Koenecke

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Grave site in the Stuttgart forest cemetery

Fritz Koenecke (born January 16, 1899 in Linden ; † March 26, 1979 in Stuttgart ) was a German manager. From 1942 to 1945 he was a board member of the Continental Gummi-Werke . 1952 to 1953 he was also a member and then until 1960 chairman of the board of management of Daimler-Benz AG in Stuttgart.

Life

Fritz Koenecke was the son of a primary school teacher in Hannover-Linden. He attended secondary school in Hanover and, after graduating from high school, did a commercial apprenticeship at Continental Gummi-Werke . This was followed by studies and, in 1922, a doctorate at the University of Hamburg with the topic “The concentration trend of the coal and steel industry in Germany in the post-war period; their essence, present. Status, causes and effects ”. During his studies he became a member of the "Student Choral Society of Georgia Augusta" (today StMV Blue Singers Göttingen ). After completing his studies, his career began as a businessman at Continental, in 1928 he was an authorized signatory , in 1934 a full member of the Executive Board, in 1938 operations manager at Continental and in 1940 general director. In 1941 he was appointed military manager and chairman of an armaments committee.

In 1942, Conti was named a model company by the Nazi state under Koenecke's board of directors . Koenecke tried to subtly defend himself against plans or wishes of the regime, which competitor Semperit helped with know-how after the "Anschluss" of Austria .

In 1945 Koenecke was released from Continental by the new head of the company, Pinkenburg, appointed by the Allies, who later had to serve a prison sentence for fraud.

In 1946, 16 former concentration camp prisoners from Ahlem wrote a letter to the British military government in Germany, protesting "on behalf of 850 dead comrades who were murdered through beatings, starvation and other tortures while doing the Conti work" .. . "energetically against the reinstatement of the Nazi manager of Continental Gummiwerke AG, Dr. Könecke, as well as the former Nazi executive committee ".

In 1948, the denazification process was classified as “not affected”.

It was not until 1949 that he had a position in industry again, on the board of the Harburger Gummiwarenfabrik Phoenix AG . In the spring of 1952, he was appointed to the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz AG as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Management. In February 1953, he succeeded the late Heinrich Wagner as chairman of the board.

One of Koenecke's achievements was that he made the German automobile company internationally competitive again in the post-war years. Under his leadership, Daimler-Benz built its own plants in India , Brazil and Argentina and was able to regain a foothold in important export markets. However, he was accused of money laundering of company assets brought to Switzerland by the Nazis with the help of the Argentine Jorge Antonio and the Argentine central bank. From 1953 Hanns Martin Schleyer was Fritz Koenecke's assistant, who helped him gain a career.

After the death of his only son in 1960, he retired into private life. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Berlin , in 1953 with the Great Cross of Merit and in 1965 with the Great Cross of Merit with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany .

Koenecke found his final resting place in the forest cemetery in Stuttgart.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Association of Alter SVer (VASV): Address book and Vademecum. Ludwigshafen am Rhein 1959, p. 72.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Jürgen Dahlkamp, ​​DER SPIEGEL: Auto supplier Continental in the Nazi era: "The real backbone of the armaments and war economy" - DER SPIEGEL - history. Retrieved August 27, 2020 .
  3. ↑ No strength . In: Der Spiegel . No. 48 , 1960, pp. 52 ( Online - Nov. 23, 1960 ).
  4. ^ Gaby Weber: Daimler-Benz and the Argentina Connection. About rat lines and Nazi money. Berlin 2004.
personal data
SURNAME Koenecke, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German manager
DATE OF BIRTH January 16, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Hanover
DATE OF DEATH March 26, 1979
Place of death Stuttgart