Georg Becker (entrepreneur)

Ernst Georg Becker (born September 1, 1878 in Amsdorf ; † January 19, 1953 in Magdeburg ) was a German entrepreneur.

Life

education

Georg Becker was born as the son of the landowner Gottlob Becker and his wife Hilde Becker, née Ackermann. After graduating from school in Eisleben , Becker completed a commercial apprenticeship at the "Maschinenfabrik Commichau" in Magdeburg, which was involved in the manufacture of spiral conveyors , among other things , and trained as an autodidact in the technical field.

He did his military service in Berlin with the 1st Guard Field Artillery Regiment. After returning to Magdeburg, he initially worked as an employee in his former training company. Later he took over the management of the company with 150 employees.

Entrepreneur

In 1907, Becker founded a trading business in the residential and commercial building Ambrosiusplatz 7, Halberstädter Straße 142 in the Sudenburg district of Magdeburg . The range included elevator buckets and ship chains . The "Maschinenfabrik Georg Becker und Co." with its headquarters in Sudenburger Wuhne No. 49-51, which is still in existence today, can be regarded as the successor company of the "FAM - Förderanlagen Magdeburg". Becker profiled the company with his technical expertise until 1930 as a specialist company for transport systems. In particular, systems for the conveyance of bulk and piece goods were produced, which were mainly used in the coal, potash, sugar and cement industries. The company became the industry leader in the Central German region.

As early as 1920 Becker had founded the "Metallwarenfabrik Gebrüder Becker & Co.", also located in Sudenburg im Langen Weg , and after a transition period was the sole owner of this company. A total of 300 employees worked in both companies on an area of ​​40,000 m². In the course of the expansion of his company, from 1926 to the 1940s, transport systems were also manufactured in another part of the company at Fichtestrasse 29a .

In order to be able to run his operations according to the latest economic findings, Becker also looked around at the international level. After the First World War , he traveled to the USA to find out about new industry trends. From this trip he also brought new advertising concepts with him, which he implemented in his company.

Social Commitment

Parallel to his economic activities, Becker was involved in the social life of the city of Magdeburg. From 1925 to 1935 he was an employer representative on the board of the local AOK , belonged to a large number of associations in the economic sector and worked as a lay judge and jury member at the local courts. For the Reichspartei des Deutschen Mittelstandes (Economic Party ) he was a city councilor in Magdeburg's city council from 1929 to 1932, but then resigned his mandate.

From 1942 he was a member of the parish council of the Sankt-Ambrosius-Kirche and was particularly involved in the parish with its kindergarten. In 1942 Becker took over the chairmanship of the parish's building committee.

In his company, he founded a company pension fund that existed beyond 1945.

time of the nationalsocialism

During the Second World War , his companies employed foreign forced laborers who had allegedly been assigned to him. A former warehouse building with a kitchen and toilet was converted to accommodate them. Since Becker's factories did not produce direct armaments either before or during the war, there were difficulties in procuring materials. Becker, who had never been involved in National Socialism , had employed several people in his company since 1935 who had lost their jobs in other companies due to union, communist or social democratic activities.

post war period

The end of the Second World War and the ensuing occupation in Germany brought particularly deep cuts for Becker. As early as 1945, his villa at Westendstrasse 29 was confiscated by the Soviet city ​​command. Becker and his family had to vacate the building within 24 hours and then lived in the former forced laborer's building. In 1949 he was arrested for alleged economic crimes. He was accused of producing the "Alsenschen cement factory" in Itzehoe in 1944 and having supplied spare parts for a conveyor system paid for by the company without obtaining official approval. However, an express delivery ban was never issued. The allegations were based on the denunciation of a member of the company's own workforce. This was followed by pre-trial detention and a politically motivated trial. Before the criminal proceedings were concluded, Becker was expropriated without compensation. His son, Georg Becker junior, who was a partner in the company, had also been expropriated beforehand. The criminal proceedings ended in 1951 with an acquittal . No decision was taken on the appeal brought in by the public prosecutor's office because Becker had since died.

The pastor of the local parish had campaigned for the release of the 71-year-old Becker from pretrial detention. Becker's health suffered greatly from the imprisonment and ultimately died at the age of 74 from its consequences. He was buried in the old Sudenburg cemetery.

The company after Becker's death

In 1954, the GDR formed the “VEB Schwermaschinenbau 7 October” from Becker's factories and the similarly oriented companies “Sudenburger Maschinenfabrik Emil Wieger” and “ AW Mackensen ”. This company produced conveyor systems at two locations in Magdeburg until 1990 and primarily supplied the Eastern European countries. "FAM - Förderanlagen Magdeburg GmbH", which is one of the largest private employers in Magdeburg, has been producing at the Sudenburger Wuhne site since 1993.

The former Villa Beckers in what is now Klausenerstraße was returned to the family after 1994. The listed building was renovated by the family.

Honor

With the resolution of the Magdeburg City Council on July 6, 2006, a street to be renamed in Sudenburg was given the name Georg-Becker-Straße .

literature

• Reichs Handbuch der Deutschen Gesellschaft - The handbook of personalities in words and pictures . First volume, Deutscher Wirtschaftsverlag, Berlin 1930, ISBN 3-598-30664-4
• Nadja Groeschner; Dieter Niemann (Ed.): The St. Ambrosii community and the "old cemetery" in Magdeburg-Sudenburg. Helmuth-Block-Verlag, Kremkau 2001, ISBN 3-934988-16-4 , p. 109 f.
• Heike Kriewald, Christian Mahrenholtz, Georg Becker honored posthumously in Sudenburg. In: Magdeburger Volksstimme . July 8, 2006.

Web links

• Georg Becker in the Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon