Graflich Schaffgotsch works
The Gräflich Schaffgotsch'schen Werke (also Gräflich Schaffgotsch'sche Mine Management) were a corporation founded in 1904, which owned over 60 coal and calamine pits . The last branch of the family owned business, Bank Bass & Herz , closed in 1974 when it went bankrupt.
The development until 1945
The beginnings under Karl Godulla
The foundation of the Schaffgotsch works was laid by the entrepreneurial commitment of Karl Godulla . In his function as administrator of the goods and operations of Count Carl Franz von Ballestrem , he not only acquired the necessary entrepreneurial knowledge, but was also able to acquire 80 zinc mines, 4 zinc smelters and 48 hard coal mines in the course of his life.
As seed money of his own entrepreneurial activity he received in 1815 by Ballestrem 28 free Kuxe at the Carls- zinc smelter in Ruda, which was extended under his direction from an initial five to 15 Doppelöfen. The first more important Galmeigube was the Annagrube near Miechowitz, which yielded such a large yield that it enabled Godulla to make further purchases. So in 1832 the Morgenroth and 1836–39 the Gutehoffnungs-Zinkhütte were added. From the outset he tried to get the land and the mining rights for the same areas as possible into his possession, he acquired large areas in the area of Schomberg-Orzegów between the Ballestrem'schen property in the west and the Donnersmarck-Neudeck'schen in the north and south-east .
The first kuxe of coal mines were those of the Stein pits in Nowy Bytom and Rosalie in Godullahütte.
Four years after his death in 1848, the situation was as follows:
| Galme pits | Annual production |
|---|---|
| Maria | 4.3 t |
| Elisabeth | 3.8 t |
| Verona | 1.14 t |
| Scharley (a few kuxe) | 9.34 t |
| Coal mines | Annual production |
|---|---|
| Orzegów | 186,000 t |
| Mountain freedom | 100,000 t |
| Paul / Godulla | 34,082 t |
| Cleophas | 160,000 t |
| Franz | 28,000 t |
| Lithandra | 32,000 t |
| Real estate including forests | surface |
|---|---|
| Schomberg and Orzegów | 6,100 ha |
| Bobrek | 10,980 ha |
| Bujakov | 130,280 ha |
| Cutow and Klein-Paniow | 16,150 ha |
He died childless and bequeathed the entire property to his adopted daughter Johanna Gryzik.
The continuation under Johanna von Schaffgotsch, née Gryzik
Born Johanna Gryzik in Poremba in 1842, Karl Godulla took her in after the death of her biological parents in 1846, brought her up and made her a universal heiress. In 1858 she married Hans Ulrich von Schaffgotsch , but even after her marriage she remained the owner of the company "Countess Schaffgotsch'sche Verwaltung", into which the legacy of Godulla had been brought. The couple managed the property together and made the Schaffgotsch works one of the four largest coal and steel companies in Silesia around 1900. In 1891 nearly five thousand workers were employed in the factories and mines.
Since from 1852 calamine mining was only worthwhile in good economic years and the productivity of some pits declined, some were closed, others sold to the Counts of Hohenlohe-Öhringen and others leased. The entire branch of zinc ore mining was discontinued in 1891.
There was also a gradual phase out of the operation of zinc smelters. The Morgenroth and Gutehoffnungshütte were closed in 1871 and the Bobrekhütte in 1885. Here, too, the Godullahütte was leased to Hohenlohe Werke AG .
In the coal mining industry, a strong concentration in ownership and administration was sought. Instead of the many small pits, the consol mine was built in the area of Schombeck, Orzegow and Ruda . Paulus-Hohenzollern , whose supplies were made accessible through the Gotthard / Karol , Paulus / Godulla / Pawel and Hohenzollern / Szombierki pits . The property was rounded off to the south in 1899 and 1906 with the acquisition of the Lithandra / Wanda and Beelowsegen mines . In contrast, the Cleophas mine to the west of Katowice was sold to the Georg von Giesche heirs in 1880 .
The commitment to the Oberschlesischen AG for coal mining in Orezsche was marked by little success. Despite an investment of 2.25 million marks, there was no profitable hard coal mining in this region at that time .
In contrast, the coal mining in the area of the Paulus-Hohenzollern mine was much more successful , so that the company management decided to open up the north-west field in 1907 by sinking the Countess Johanna / Bobrek mine . From 1920 onwards , the coal mined there was almost exclusively converted into electricity in the Szombierki electrical works, which was also part of the corporation.
The Schaffgotsch hard coal works from 1921 to 1945
The division of Upper Silesia in the wake of the First World War and the vote among the local population completely severed the company's hard coal area. So lay mines Countess Johanna and Hohenzollern on the German, Gotthard , Godulla / Paul and Lithandra on the Polish side of the new border. In order to take this into account, the administration of the West Upper Silesian mines was relocated to Gleiwitz and Godula SA , based in Ruda-Morgenroth (Chebzie), was founded for the East Upper Silesian mines . Since the family did not withdraw any capital from this Société anonyme and at the same time invested in Poland, the Polish side did not have any concerns about this regulation. At that time, the Polish government was also not financially able to acquire a majority in this company.
In 1928, when Wirek AG was founded, the Gottessegen / Lech and Hugo and Zwang / Wirek mines in Antonienhütte / Wirek (part of Ruda Śląska ) were merged . The main shareholders of this new AG were Schaffgotsch, Ballestrem and Prince Henckel von Donnersmarck (line Beuthen-Siemianowitz).
The two pits in western Upper Silesia were able to increase their total production of hard coal from 1.35 million t in 1913 to 2.98 million t in 1925 so significantly that the loss of the three in the east could be compensated.
After the occupation of Poland by German troops, the pits and mines Paweł (Paulus) , Karol (Gotthard) and Wanda-Lech (Lithandra-Hillebrand) in East Upper Silesia were returned to the Graeflich Schaffgotsch'schen Werke GmbH in Gleiwitz in 1942. Since this return did not constitute full compensation (parts had "fallen" to the Reichswerke Hermann Göring ), Schaffgotsch received 50% of the shares in Wirek-AG and thus created the Godulla mine in Wirek from 1942 to 1945 (see Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego Polska Wirek ).
Investments in new business areas from 1920
Shortly after the end of the First World War, the Schaffgotsch'sche mine company was looking for further investment opportunities. These passed u. a. in cooperation with Bubiag , founded by Fritz Friedländer in 1900 , which soon after its founding developed into the most important mining company in the Lusatian lignite district. Working with Bubiag from 1920, Schaffgotsch took over the majority of shares in Bubiag from the Friedländer Group in the 1930s.
In order to be able to coke the coal extracted from the mines of western Upper Silesia , the group built the Odertalkokerei in Deschowitz / Zdzieszowice according to plans by the architects Schupp and Kremmer in 1930/31 . The carbon industry products were used from 1937 to produce synthetic gasoline using the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis .
As early as 1891, the Schaffgotsch Group had also been involved in the production of explosives. Initially, a share of 5/26 was acquired in the oHG Alt-Beruner Sprengstofffabrik, and a short time later 11/100 in the Pniowitz powder factory. These activities were expanded through a participation in the Berlin lignose explosives works.
The Schaffgotsch Group after the Second World War
After the loss of their goods and businesses in East Germany and Silesia, the Schaffgotsch family moved the headquarters of the remaining group of companies (including Bubiag ) to Munich in 1948 . Despite the takeover of Elektrische Licht- und Kraftanlagen AG (Elikraft) and the merger of Bubiag and Elikraft in 1971, no sustainable profits could be made after the shutdown of the North Hessian mines ( Borkener lignite area ). Further problems arose from high losses at the Bonn-based office supplies company Soennecken , in which the Schaffgotsch family held a 50% stake. Participation in Otto-Versand was also unsuccessful.
Although the owner of the private bank Bass & Herz , Hans-Ulrich von Schaffgotsch, tried to save the family businesses by means of short-term loans, it failed. In 1974 the bank went bankrupt and the rebuilding of the family empire in the west must be viewed as a failure.
literature
- Paul Deutsch: The Upper Silesian coal and steel industry before and after the division of the industrial area . Bonn 1926.
- Yearbook for the Upper Mining District Wroclaw . Phönix-Verlag, Kattowitz / Breslau / Berlin 1913, digitized version at http://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication?id=3349&tab=3 (last accessed on May 5, 2015).
- Jerzy Jaros: Słownik historyczny kopalń węgla na ziemiach polskich . Katowice 1984.
- Wojciech Morawski: German capital in Poland in the interwar period . In: Interest and Conflict. On the political economy of German-Polish relations 1900–2007 . Edited by Dieter Bingen, Peter Oliver Loew and Nikolaus Wolf. Harrassowitz-Verlag, Wiesbaden 2008.
- Werner Röhr: On the role of heavy industry in annexed Polish Upper Silesia for the war economy in Germany from 1939 to 1949 (= yearbook for economic history. Volume 130). Downloaded as a PDF file from www.digitalis.uni-koeln.de/JWG (last accessed on October 5, 2015).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information according to the yearbook for the Wroclaw District Office, p. 457
- ↑ Conversion according to 1 morning = 4 ha
- ↑ see Wikipedia article Johanna von Schaffgotsch
- ^ Paul Deutsch: The Upper Silesian coal and steel industry . P. 90f.
- ↑ Werner Röhr: Heavy industry in the annexed Polish Upper Silesia . P. 25.
- ↑ see the Polish Wikipedia page Schaffgotsch Petrol Works (accessed on May 1, 2016)
- ↑ End of a dynasty. In: Die Zeit 34/1974. August 16, 1974. Retrieved May 4, 2019 .
- ↑ The leftovers are coming . In: Der Spiegel . No. 34 , 1974, p. 32 ( online - August 19, 1974 ).