Otto A. Friedrich

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Otto A. Friedrich, around 1950

Otto Andreas Friedrich (born July 3, 1902 in Leipzig , † December 8, 1975 in Düsseldorf ) was a German entrepreneur . From 1969 to 1973 he was President of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA).

family

His father was the surgeon and university professor Paul Leopold Friedrich (* 1864, † 1916). Otto Andreas Friedrich's first marriage was from 1924 to 1930 with the writer and journalist Ruth Behrens (* 1901; † 1977), who wrote under the name Ruth Andreas-Friedrich after the divorce . Her daughter Karin Friedrich , born in 1925 , also became a journalist.

One of his brothers was the German-American political scientist Carl Joachim Friedrich .

His youngest son is the Taiji master Andreas W. Friedrich, who lives and teaches in Munich .

Career and work

Otto A. Friedrich initially studied medicine in Marburg and Vienna from 1921. After a very good pre-physics course, he continued his studies in Heidelberg and Berlin. In order to make a living while studying, he sold various goods so successfully that he soon recognized his 'true talent' as a businessman and entrepreneur. He then switched to economics, did not graduate and instead started his own business with a 'specialist shop for technical needs'. The worsening credit situation prompted him to complete a classic commercial apprenticeship, after which he emigrated to the USA in 1926. There he began his career as a worker and employee with the BF Goodrich Rubber Company in Ohio. He soon attracted positive attention there, was promoted and sent back to Germany on behalf of Goodrich in 1927 to work there on her behalf, among other things to establish an independent German sales company from 1930. After this had to be closed again after two years, Friedrich took over tasks in the German rubber industry and became the managing director of several cartels.

From 1939 to 1965 he held a managerial position at the Hamburg rubber goods and tire manufacturer Phoenix AG , from 1949 as its general director. He then joined the Flick Group as a personally liable partner , a position he held until his death in 1975.

Otto A. Friedrich joined the NSDAP in 1941 and his company was an important part of the NS armaments industry. Nevertheless, he was able to continue his work under the British occupation forces in 1945 and played a leading role in the reconstruction . He rose to become a raw materials advisor to the federal government.

He became an advocate of the social market economy . At Phoenix, which he linked economically with numerous US companies, approaches from the American human relations movement in business administration were put into practice. As President of the BDA during Willy Brandt's reign , he represented the employers' side in the concerted action .

From 1959 to 1960 he was a member of the Advisory Board of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation .

Quotes

“We must no longer ignore the fact that our participation in the development of every product is a human one, that it has not only a material, but also a spiritual and moral content. The responsible entrepreneur cannot do without really involving people in his work. "

“The entrepreneur should see the person in his partner and help him develop into a free, self-confident and co-responsible personality and feel and recognize himself as such. Only free and independent personalities are carriers of real community. "

"The great lesson that collapse and the honor of need have given us is that man and his entrepreneurial spirit are stronger than matter."

motto

"Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re"

Awards

  • 1951: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • 1973: Great Cross of Merit with Star and Shoulder Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • 1956: Freiherr vom Stein Prize 1956

literature

  • Volker Berghahn , Paul J. Friedrich: Otto A. Friedrich, a political entrepreneur. His life and his time. 1902-1975 . Campus, Frankfurt / Main 1993, ISBN 3-593-34847-0 .
  • Paul Erker, Toni Pierenkemper (Hrsg.): German entrepreneurs between war economy and reconstruction. Studies on the experience building of industrial elites . Oldenbourg, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-486-56363-7 .
  • Phoenix Gummiwerke Aktiengesellschaft (ed.): Otto A. Friedrich, portrait of an entrepreneur in his speeches and writings . Hamburg, 1965.
  • Ernst Goyke (Ed.): Die 100 von Bonn, 1972–1976 . Gustav Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach, 1973, ISBN 3-7857-0125-X .

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b Christian Tilitzki : “It cannot be described.” The surgeon Paul Friedrich in the battle of Gumbinnen (1914). In: Prussia. Volume 46, 2008, ISSN  0032-7972 , p. 50, fn. 36.
  2. ↑ The model of an entrepreneur - a portrait of Otto A. Friedrich, 1974.
  3. ^ OAF, article in the weekly newspaper: Die Zeit , May 22, 1952; Printed in Otto A. Friedrich, Portrait of an Entrepreneur in his Speeches and Writings, Der Mensch im Betrieb, 1965, p. 47.
  4. ^ OAF, self-administration in operation, published in Rheinisches Merkur, July 10, 1953; Printed in Otto A. Friedrich, Portrait of an Entrepreneur in his speeches and writings, Der Mensch im Betrieb, 1965, p. 49.
  5. ^ OAF, Political Co-determination for the Entrepreneur. Lecture at the annual conference of the trade association of the German rubber industry in Baden-Baden, June 24, 1952; Printed in Otto A. Friedrich, Portrait of an Entrepreneur in his Speeches and Writings, Der Mensch im Betrieb, 1965, p. 23
  6. ↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 3, No. 250, December 29, 1951.
  7. ↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 25, No. 43, March 9, 1973.
  8. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt, July 6, 1956
personal data
SURNAME Friedrich, Otto A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Friedrich, Otto Andreas (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH 8th December 1975
Place of death Dusseldorf