Kurt Hansen (Manager)

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Kurt Hansen (born  January 11, 1910 in Yokohama , Japan ; † January 26, 2002 in Leverkusen ) was a chemist and from 1961 to 1974 Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer AG in Leverkusen.

Life

Kurt Hansen was born in Yokohama in 1910 as the son of a Hamburg businessman and came to Hamburg in 1920, where he finished secondary school. In 1929 he began his chemistry studies at the TH Munich , where he received his doctorate in 1935 . He also studied in Dresden.

In 1936 he came to the Wolfen factory of IG Farben as a qualified business graduate , but soon went to what is now Agfa , then a photo paper factory in Leverkusen . At the age of 28, he took over the Alizarin department there.

Hansen joined the NSDAP early on, in 1931 .

In 1943, after several drafts, he was transferred to Berlin for military service and became head of the IG Farben central office for raw materials procurement, which was important for the war effort . The IG Farben were closely involved in the war of conquest of the Third Reich. The group followed the Wehrmacht to the conquered countries of Europe and usually took over the chemical industry there within a few weeks. The department headed by Hansen played a central role in this. Coal mines, oil production facilities and other raw material sources were also among the spoils of the group, which also exploited tens of thousands of slave labor.

Kurt Hansen was interned by the Allies in 1945 because of his co-responsibility for war crimes . In the same year, however, he can return to Leverkusen. From then on, Hansen made connections in the USA , where he was in 1953, and helped set up the Bayer plant in India . In 1955 he received power of attorney . 1956, one year after a stay abroad in India, where he directly supervised and advised the construction, took over the management of the plant in Wuppertal-Elberfeld and in 1957 he became a member of the board. In 1961, after the death of Ulrich Haberland, he was appointed CEO. He used his role as CEO primarily to enforce new structures in the group and to expand it internationally.

In 1974 Hansen moved to the supervisory board and Herbert Grünewald became chairman of the board. In 1984 he ended his professional career and retired. He was then elected to the honorary board and established a foundation to promote young scientists . In 1988 he became an honorary citizen and in 1969 an honorary senator of the University of Cologne , where he was honorary professor from 1963.

From 1966 he was on the Presidium of the Federation of German Industries. In 1970/71 he was President of the Chemical Industry Association and in 1974/75 President of the Society of German Chemists , whose Carl Duisberg plaque he received.

Awards

literature

  • Erich Verg: Milestones. 125 years of Bayer. Self-published by Bayer AG, Leverkusen, 1988
  • Entry in Vierhaus, Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie, KG Saur, De Gruyter
  • Hansen: Still Resisting Courageously , 1985 (Collection of Speeches)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Science award named after ex-Nazi
  2. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
  3. ^ Wolfgang A. Herrmann (Ed.): Technical University of Munich. The history of a science company . Volume 2, Metropol, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-938690-34-5 , p. 992.
  4. ↑ Honorary Citizen and Honorary Senators of the University of Cologne. 1925-2004 . Cologne 2005, p. 8 ( uni-bonn.de [PDF]).
predecessor Office successor
Ulrich Haberland CEO of Bayer AG
1961–1974 		Herbert Grünewald
personal data
SURNAME Hansen, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German chemist, CEO of Bayer AG in Leverkusen (1961–1974)
DATE OF BIRTH January 11, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Yokohama , Japan
DATE OF DEATH January 26, 2002
Place of death Leverkusen