Julius Petschek

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Julius Petschek (* 14. March 1856 in Kolín ; † 22. January 1932 in Prague ) was a Bohemian and after 1918 Czechoslovak major industrial and banker .

Life and activity

Julius Petschek was a son of the moneylender Moses Petschek (1822-1888) from Petschek near Kolin and Sara Wiener (1827-1894). He had two brothers, Isidor Petschek (1854–1919) and Ignaz Petschek (1857–1934), who also became important industrialists.

After attending school, Petschek studied law at the Charles University . In 1880 he was promoted to Dr. jur. did his doctorate and then entered the Austro-Hungarian civil service. In 1878 Petschek began working at the financial procurator in Prague, first as finance secretary and later as finance advisor.

With his brother Isidor he founded the Prague line of the Petschek entrepreneurial dynasty . The company conglomerate of the Prager Petscheks initially comprised shares in the Brüxer Kohlenbergbau-Gesellschaft AG and the Nordböhmische Kohlenwerke AG in Brüx. In addition, they were able to acquire pits in the Falkenauer Revier , the second largest lignite basin in the country. In 1900 she became the main shareholder of Montan- und Industrialwerke AG, vorm. JD Starck in Unterreichenau .

In 1906, Julius Petschek resigned his civil service as chief finance advisor and took an active part in his brother Isidor's investment business. In the same year he was elected to the General Council of the Anglo-Austrian Bank , which was behind the business activities of both brothers. The banking contacts also enable them to trade stocks. In the following years Julius Petschek joined numerous companies of the Prager Petschek as a member of the supervisory board.

With his brother Isidor he founded the Prager Kommorzgesellschaft GmbH in 1917 for the administration of financial family affairs and together with Isidor the Aussiger Montangesellschaft in the same year. Julius Petschek was deeply divided with his brother Ignaz Petschek (Aussiger Petscheks). Although they were in the same business fields, they were in competition and fought fiercely. In many companies, they gained the majority of the shares through hostile takeovers and outbid each other in the process. In addition to his brother Ignaz, Julius Petschek was a leading member of the Central German Brown Coal Syndicate .

Founding of the Petschek & Co.

In 1920 the bank Petschek & Co. was founded in Prague by Julius Petschek, his son Walter and the four sons of Isidor. The bank took over the tasks of the former Prague commercial company. After the bank bought coal works and coal fields in northern Bohemia and central Germany , the Petscheks became important lignite magnates within a few years. With the marriage of his daughters, Margarethe and Marianne, the family also expanded into the paper industry. Bankhaus Petschek & Co. was one of the supporters of the Prague Secession .

Expansion in Germany

In the early 1930s, Julius and Ignaz Petschek controlled 30 percent of German lignite plants. The largest and most important companies for Julius Petschek were the Werschen-Weißenfelser Braunkohlen AG and the Anhaltischen Kohlenwerke . Ignaz Petschek controlled the Ilse Bergbau AG in Berlin, the Eintracht Braunkohlenwerke und Briquettfabriken AG in Welzow , the Niederlausitzer Kohlenwerke AG, the Phoenix AG for brown coal utilization in Berlin, the Leonhard brown coal works in Zipsendorf , the Borna brown coal works and the Bleichert coal works. Ignaz Petschek's lignite works were around four times larger than his brother's. However, the Prague Petscheks owned significantly more shares in banks. You were the owner of the Petschek-Bank in Prague, the main shareholders of the Böhmische Escompte-Bank and Creditanstalt, the Böhmische Unions-Bank as well as shareholders in several banks in Germany, Holland, Spain, England and the USA.

Relocation of business by the successors

After Julius Petschek's death in January 1932, the family decided to give up their business in Germany. Julius Petschek's heirs combined the Anhaltischen Kohlenwerke and Werschen-Weißenfelser Braunkohlen AG with the help of the Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft in an American holding company, United Continental Corp. based in New York. By 1937 the family established itself on business in England.

Sale of company shares in the Reich

After the community of heirs had started negotiations to sell the Anhaltischen Kohlenwerke and Werschen-Weißenfelser Braunkohlen AG with IG Farben and Wintershall , among others , in the spring of 1938 Friedrich Flick, with the support of Hermann Göring and Wilhelm Keppler, put the family under massive selling pressure. Ultimately, Flick was able to acquire the two companies on very advantageous terms in May 1938. In a final report signed by Hermann Göring on November 26, 1938, it was emphasized that the Anhaltische Kohlenwerke and the Werschen-Weißenfelser Braunkohlen AG had been aryanized “not for private economic reasons, but for political and economic reasons” .

Sale of company shares in Czechoslovakia

The shares in companies that the community of heirs still owned in Czechoslovakia could be sold to the commercial bank in Prague until the summer of 1938 before the Munich Agreement . After the Munich Agreement, the commercial bank also took over the Petschek Bank. The necessary capital transfer abroad could be achieved, contrary to the foreign exchange regulations of the Czechoslovak National Bank, thanks to the existing foreign relations. The illegal flight of capital from Czechoslovakia had reached its peak at the turn of the year 1938/39 after the Munich Agreement.

Construction activity

US ambassador's residence
Petschek Palace

13 large villas in Prague testify to the wealth of the Prague line of Pechek. The largest of these, which belonged to the nephew of Julius Petschek and his successor in the operational management of the bank, Otto Petschek (1882–1934), is the Villa Otto Petschek, built in the noble district of Bubeneč by the architect Max Spielmann in the neoclassical style . It has served as the residence of the US ambassadors in Prague since 1948 .

The Aussiger Petscheks were expropriated during the time of National Socialism in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia through " Aryanization " laws . The building of the banking house Petschek & Co. in Prague, which had been sold to the Czech government, was used from 1939 to 1945 as the Gestapo control center in Prague.

family

Petschek was married to Berta Robitschek. With her he had the son Walter (1899) and the daughters Margarethe (1894–1980) and Marianne (1895). Margarete was married to the paper production entrepreneur Oswald Gellert and Marianne to his brother Leopold Gellert.

credentials

  1. ^ Mining in Falkenau from 1900-1945
  2. ↑ Johannes Bähr , Axel Drecoll, Bernhard Gotto, Kim Christian Priemel, Harald Wixforth: The Flick Group in the Third Reich. Walter de Gruyter, 2012, p. 693 f.
  3. ^ Ingolf Strassmann: Jewish labor and Jewish capital in the brown coal mining area in and around the Duchy of Saxony-Altenburg. S. 9. juedische-geschichte.de, accessed on April 25, 2019
  4. ↑ William Pleper: Berg economic releases. Volumes 4-5. J. Springer, 1913, pp. 47, 92.
  5. ^ Günter Ogger : Friedrich Flick der Große Scherz Verlag, 1971, p. 481.
  6. ↑ Günter Ogger: Flick Scherz Verlag, 1971, pp. 174-175.
  7. ↑ Jana Gerslová: Petschek, Julius Deutsche Biografie, accessed on May 2, 2019
  8. ↑ Kim Christian Priemel: Flick - A corporate history from the German Empire to the Federal Republic . Wallstein 2007. ISBN 978-3-8353-0219-8 , Figure III / 6 The German subsidiaries of the Petschek groups 1938/39 p. 392 f.
  9. ↑ Kim Christian Priemel: Flick - A corporate history from the German Empire to the Federal Republic . Pp. 391-399.
  10. ^ Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Law No. 10, Nuremberg, October 1946-April, 1949: Case 5: US v. Flick (Flick case) US Government Printing Office, 1949 p. 654
  11. ↑ Kim Christian Priemel: Flick - A corporate history from the German Empire to the Federal Republic . P. 409.
  12. ↑ Christopher Kobrak, Per H. Hansen: European Business, Dictatorship, and Political Risk, 1920-1945 Berghahn Books, 2004 p. 217
  13. ↑ Johannes Bähr , Axel Drecoll, Bernhard Gotto, Kim Christian Priemel, Harald Wixforth: The Flick Group in the Third Reich p. 386
  14. ↑ Jutta Günther, Dagmara Jajesniak-Quast (ed.): Welcome investors or national sell-off ?: Foreign direct investments in East Central Europe in the 20th century , Berliner Wissenschaftsverlag ISBN 978-3-8305-1186-1 p. 77
  15. ↑ Jutta Günther, Dagmara Jajesniak-Quast: p. 78
  16. ↑ Jutta Günther, Dagmara Jajesniak-Quast: p. 79
  17. ↑ Zdeněk Lukeš: Noblesa i útulnost. Zajímavý příběh Petschkovy vily. (Noblesse and comfort. Interesting history of the Petschek villa.) Lidové noviny , April 11, 2013. http://www.lidovky.cz/noblesa-i-utulnost-zajimavy-pribeh-petschkovy-vily-fyt-/design. aspx? c = A130408_080548_ln-bydleni_ter
  18. ↑ Norman Eisen: The Last Palace of Prague A legendary house and the storms of the 20th century , Ullstein
  19. ↑ Background and Context in: Villa Petschek - A Virtual Tour

literature

personal data
SURNAME Petschek, Julius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION large Bohemian industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH March 14, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Kolín
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1932
Place of death Prague