Gerhard Korte

Gerhard Korte (born January 28, 1858 in Celle ; † February 2, 1945 in Magdeburg ) was a German businessman and mining entrepreneur . He was one of the pioneers in potash mining .

Life

After attending high schools in Bernburg (Saale) and Zerbst, Korte completed a commercial apprenticeship . He then worked in the rock salt trade in Aschersleben .

From 1889 onwards, he was involved in the development of potash salt stores in the upper Allertal . To this end, he founded the drilling company “Gott mit uns” and acquired 60 properties between Weferlingen and Eilsleben . He had the first test drillings carried out at Walbeck in great secrecy so as not to alert the Prussian state too early to his findings. After the drilling was successful, Korte officially applied for a mining permit in 1890. The mining authority refused Korte the establishment of a mining union to operate a potash mine and instead made him an offer to buy. Korte turned down this offer, reactivated the disused iron stone mine Burbach in Siegerland and relocated the headquarters of the union operating this mine to Magdeburg. In 1897, wells near Beendorf unearthed crude salt with a high potash content, so that regular production began there from 1899. To produce the required potassium chloride , Korte first leased a factory in Schönebeck (Elbe) before setting up his own potash factory in July 1902 right next to the conveyor systems.

In 1900 the company joined the German Potash Association . Korte was a member of its executive committee and was chairman of the syndicate from 1927 . With financial support from the director of Magdeburger Straßenbahn AG and his brother Friedrich, Korte set up additional mining operations in Walbeck, Alleringersleben, Ummendorf and Eilsleben and acquired land with an area of ​​130 km², which extended over 30 km. In doing so, Korte worked closely with the Association of Farmers . Finally, the operations were merged to form Kaliwerke Ummendorf-Eilsleben AG . In 1906, Korte formed the Burbach potash group from the Burbach, Walbeck, Bartensleben, Buchberg and a few smaller unions with the affiliation of Krügershall AG, from which Burbach-Kaliwerke AG emerged in 1928. There Korte held the chairmanship of the supervisory board until 1940.

Honors

Korte was one of the leading personalities of his time in the German potash industry. The Bergakademie Clausthal awarded him an honorary doctorate of Dr.-Ing. Eh , the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg that of a Dr. rer. pole. hc In the city of Magdeburg, Gerhard-Korte-Strasse was named after him at times .

literature

• August Bornemann: Korte, Gerhard. In: Guido Heinrich, Gunter Schandera (ed.): Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon 19th and 20th centuries. Biographical lexicon for the state capital Magdeburg and the districts of Bördekreis, Jerichower Land, Ohrekreis and Schönebeck. Scriptum, Magdeburg 2002, ISBN 3-933046-49-1 ( article online ).
• Evelyn Kroker :  Korte, Gerhard. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-428-00193-1 , p. 600 ( digitized version ).

Web links

• Newspaper article about Gerhard Korte in the press kit of the 20th century of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
• k + s - Experience growth ( Memento from October 31, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)