Johann Wilhelm Welker

Johann Wilhelm Welker (born March 22, 1870 in Bochum ; † May 3, 1962 in Duisburg ) was a German manager .

Johann W. Welker, born on March 22nd, 1870 in Bochum, initially worked in mining for a year after attending grammar school . Then he completed a commercial apprenticeship in the Bochum coal wholesaler Wilhelm Kracht. After his military service, he joined the coal wholesaler and shipping company Piepmeyer & Oppenhorst in Frankfurt am Main at the age of 19 . In autumn 1894, the management commissioned him to set up a branch in Duisburg. He also took over its management and later became a shareholder.

In April 1917 he switched to the OHG Franz Haniel & Co. In June 1917 he became general director of the newly founded Franz Haniel & Cie. He held this office until 1944. That year he resigned it on April 1st on the occasion of his 75th birthday. In 1957 he took over the chairmanship of the supervisory board at the request of the Haniel family . He strengthened and expanded Haniel's coal trade and expanded the shipping company to include Rhine-Sea traffic. Under his leadership, the company began trading in iron, fertilizer and pit timber. In 1927 he founded the so-called Welker Fund to support employees who got into distress through no fault of their own.

During the Third Reich , the devout Catholic managed to keep the Haniel company largely free from the influence of the National Socialists. His distance from the regime was known. Although he did not join the NSDAP , he also held high offices in business associations during the Third Reich and held numerous honorary positions . In 1924 he became chairman of the board of the association for the protection of the interests of the Rhine navigation and the Schifferbörse in Ruhrort. Later he also headed the Reichsverkehrsgruppe inland navigation (1935–1945) and became a member of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine . In 1905 he joined the Duisburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry , which in 1930 elected him to succeed Paul Reusch as chairman. He held this office until 1944. This made Johann W. Welker the only chairman of the Chamber of Commerce in National Socialist Germany who was not a party member. In autumn 1934 he took over the chairmanship of the Central Association for German Inland Shipping in Berlin. In the same year Welker was appointed councilor of the city of Duisburg.

The Philosophical Faculty of the University of Cologne awarded him an honorary doctorate on October 6, 1927 . In 1952 he received the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Johann W. Welker died on May 3, 1962 at the age of 92 in Duisburg. Since 1897 he had been married to Dora Langen (1876–1965). The couple bequeathed a valuable collection of paintings to the city of Duisburg, which is kept in the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum . The Welkers also set up a foundation with the help of which an old people's home should be built. On March 22, 1970, the 100th birthday of Johann W. Welker, the Welker Foundation was officially opened in Duisburg. The Johann-Welker-Schiff , a type of inland waterway vessel , is named after Welker .

literature

• Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH (Hrsg.): Haniel 1756 - 2006 - A chronicle in data and facts . Duisburg 2006.

Web links

• Newspaper article about Johann Wilhelm Welker in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .