Hermann Wirtz

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Hermann (August) Wirtz (born October 20, 1896 in Stolberg (Rhineland) ; † December 19, 1973 there ) was a German entrepreneur and founder of the Grünenthal GmbH company .

Live and act

Hermann Wirtz comes from the entrepreneurial family Wirtz , which rose since 1845 with the companies Mäurer & Wirtz and Dalli-Werke in Stolberg. He was the son of the chemist and manufacturer Franz Maria Wirtz (1859–1930) and Josephine Wirtz, née Brückmann (1868–1957), honorary citizen of the city of Stolberg. Together with his twin brother Alfred Richard Wirtz (1896–1963) he graduated from the Rhenish Knight Academy in Bedburg in 1914 and then also served as a volunteer in the Westphalian foot artillery regiment 7th wounded and awarded EK I during the First World WarWirtz returned from the war with the rank of lieutenant in the reserve and completed an apprenticeship in banking as well as studying at RWTH Aachen University . He then joined his father's company and in 1930 became a managing partner of Dalli-Werke . From 1946 he was a managing partner at Mäurer & Wirtz , which had their joint headquarters in the so-called Dollgarten , an area in the immediate vicinity of the Dollartshammer copper yard , where the Prym family ran their brass factory William Prym & Co KG . In the summer of 1946, Wirtz founded Grünenthal GmbH as a further subsidiary, based on the Kupferhof Grünenthal , which had been family-owned since 1887, and took over the management of the company as managing partner. A year later, the company was the first German pharmaceutical company to receive approval rights for penicillin . In addition to other products, this innovation led to a steep rise in the company during the Hermann Wirtz era.

In addition, in January 1960, Wirtz acquired a stake of more than 25 percent in the renowned Knoll AG factory for special chemical and pharmaceutical preparations in Ludwigshafen (capital 9.8 million marks).

In the meantime, Hermann Wirtz was made an honorary citizen of RWTH Aachen University in 1957 for his services to date . In the same year he brought the preparation Contergan, intended as a sleeping aid, onto the market, which was also a resounding sales success at the beginning. But in the following years it turned out that this over-the-counter preparation led to considerable side effects in pregnant women, whose children were born with multiple deformities as a result. These incidents triggered the so-called Contergan scandal . The first investigations against Wirtz and the Grünenthal company began as early as 1962. In expectation of liability, Wirtz, like other responsible persons, transferred considerable property and real estate assets to close relatives, some of whom were still underage. At this point in time, Wirtz was first represented by Hans Dahs, a renowned professor from Bonn and known for the Hans Dahs plaque named after him , and from November 1966 by Josef Neuberger , who had previously been mandated for other co-defendants in these proceedings, four weeks later, however, Hermann Wirtz's mandate had to resign after he had been appointed Minister of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Finally, years later, on January 18, 1968, the main thalidomide proceedings against Hermann Wirtz and other leaders of Grünenthal GmbH were opened before the Grand Criminal Chamber of the Aachen Regional Court for willful or negligent bodily harm and negligent homicide. In a final settlement there was an offer to set up a foundation - on condition that the proceedings were terminated . On December 18, 1970, the court stopped the criminal proceedings because of minor guilt on the part of the accused and a lack of public interest in prosecution under Section 153 of the Code of Criminal Procedure .

In the same year Hermann Wirtz handed over the management of Grünenthal GmbH to his son Michael Wirtz , who held it until 2005. Hermanns Neffe, the chemist Franz A. Wirtz , joined the company management as a further managing partner from the Wirtz family , responsible for research and development.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Gerhard Mauz: A hike on the razor blade . In: Der Spiegel . No. 22 , 1968, p. 149 ( online - May 27, 1968 ).
  2. ↑ Gerhard Mauz: Neither winner nor defeated . In: Der Spiegel . No. 50 , 1970, pp. 99-100 ( Online - Dec. 7, 1970 ).
  3. ^ General register of the German Family Archives , Volume 40, Pages 157, 159
  4. ^ Eduard Arens, Wilhelm L. Janssen , History of the Club Aachener Casino , new ed. by Elisabeth Janssen and Felix Kuetgens , Aachen 2nd edition 1964, No. 486, p. 255
  5. ↑ Klara van Eyll : From the copper yard to pharmaceutical research. The Grünenthal farm and the Wirtz family. In: the scales. Magazine of Grünenthal GmbH, Aachen. Volume 35, 1996, number 2 (pp. 45-88), pp. 53-55
  6. ↑ Appointment of honorary citizen, Act 993/1957 of RWTH Aachen University
  7. ↑ a b c invoice without Wirtz . In: Der Spiegel . No. 8 , 1963, pp. 37-38 ( Online - Feb. 20, 1963 ).
  8. ^ Gerhard Mauz: Until the next stroke of fate . In: Der Spiegel . No. 53 , 1966, pp. 37-39 ( Online - Dec. 26, 1966 ).
  9. ↑ Code K 17 . In: Der Spiegel . No. 23 , 1968, p. 46-65 ( online - June 3, 1968 ).
  10. ↑ Ferdinand Ranft: "We have settled everything." In the Contergan affair, charges are now to be brought. In: Die Zeit, March 10, 1967 ( online )
  11. ↑ Uwe Schultz: Great Trials: Law and Justice in History. Page 402 ( online )
personal data
SURNAME Wirtz, Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wirtz, Hermann August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Stolberg (Rhineland)
DATE OF DEATH 19th December 1973
Place of death Stolberg (Rhineland)