Karl Grosse (engineer)

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Karl Grosse (born May 22, 1873 in Karlsruhe ; † December 17, 1963 in Wissen / Sieg ) was a German mechanical engineer and general director of van der Zypen & Wissener Eisenhütte AG Cologne-Deutz as well as chairman of the board of management and supervisory board chairman of Hüttenwerke Siegerland AG, Siegen .

Live and act

After graduating from high school, the son of a businessman studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Karlsruhe and the Technical University of Berlin . In Karlsruhe he became a member of the Corps Bavaria . After completing his diploma, he initially took up a position at Schuckert & Co. in Nuremberg , but soon switched to the Georgs-Marien-Bergwerks- und Hüttenverein in Osnabrück as an assistant . A few years later he was promoted to chief engineer and in 1903 appointed deputy district director.

The change that was decisive for his further career finally took place in 1905, when the United Steelworks van der Zypen & Wissener Eisenhütte AG , based in Cologne-Deutz and a branch in Wissen, appointed him to their technical board member. From the beginning, great main interest was in the United Steelworks in Knowledge, for which he recognized a considerable need for modernization and expansion. Before 1910, in order to bring himself up to date with the latest technical knowledge, he went on a study trip to England , which at that time was the leader in the tinplate business . After his return he managed to build a tinplate plant in the district of Wissen-Frankenthal, which was put into operation in 1912 and whose products were sold exclusively by the Otto Wolff Group from 1914 and which from 1924 also held the majority of shares in the United Steelworks van der Zypen & Wissener Eisenhütte AG acquired. In the following years, Grosse, who had been appointed General Manager from 1917, developed the company into the most modern tinplate plant in Europe with almost 3,000 employees by 1937.

When the United Steelworks (VSt) was founded in 1926, his company was incorporated into the VSt and Grosse was then given a seat on the board of this mining group. As part of a reorganization of its facilities, the blast furnace works and the tinplate works in knowledge with the works of Charlottenhütte AG in Niederschelden , the tinplate works Hüsten and Nachrodt , the Eichener rolling mill Kreuztal , the rolling mill Meggen (Lennestadt) , the mills were decided on December 6, 1933 Attendorn and Weidenau (victories) and the galvanizing Aschaffenburg the Thyssen works at the steel works Siegerland AG. Victories united. Grosse now took over the chairmanship of the board of this newly founded independent operating company until it was liquidated after the Second World War. It was not until March 1, 1952 that this unified company was re-established under the old name with the administrative headquarters in Siegen, to which Friedrichshütte AG, Herdorf , as a subsidiary , belonged. In these important early years of re-establishment and rebuilding, Grosse was appointed chairman of the supervisory board until 1960 . Later in 1994, Hüttenwerke Siegerland AG was finally incorporated into Hoesch Stahl AG .

In 1902 Grosse was one of the co-founders of the "Association of German Fine Sheet Rolling Mills" in Cologne, which he also headed as chairman from 1930 until its dissolution in 1942. He was also significantly involved in the founding of the International Tinplate Association in 1934, which was dissolved after the outbreak of war in 1939. In addition, he was a member of the board of directors of the Association of German Ironworkers, today's VDEh Steel Institute .

Honors

On October 24, 1920 Grosse was " ... in recognition of his contributions to the development and promotion of domestic tinplate industry" to Dr. Ing. Eh and on November 2, 1956 "... in recognition of his extraordinary services to the promotion of research in the entire field of natural sciences and its application to technology at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen " for Dr. rer. nat. E. h. appointed by RWTH Aachen .

In addition, he was awarded the title of honorary citizen of the RWTH Aachen on June 20, 1929, and on May 13, 1948, “... the active sponsor of the Aachen University in recognition of his high service during his many years as chairman of the Society of Friends of the Aachen University, as well as was awarded the title of Honorary Senator of RWTH Aachen University in recognition of his long-standing, self-sacrificing work for the well-being and prosperity of the university .

In 1953 he was awarded the Great Cross of Merit and in 1955 the corresponding star of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Works (selection)

  • The history of the tinplate plant in Wissen / Sieg 1910–1945 , Duisburg, 1945

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Address list of the Weinheimer SC. 1928, p. 217.
personal data
SURNAME Grosse, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mechanical engineer and manager
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Karlsruhe
DATE OF DEATH 17th December 1963
Place of death Knowledge / victory