Otto Wolff (industrialist)

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Otto Wolff (born April 8, 1881 in Bonn , † January 22, 1940 in Berlin ) was a major German industrialist .

Life

From scrap dealers to the smallest of the big ones

Otto Wolff was the son of the Catholic organist and cantor of the Bonn collegiate church Johann Peter Wolff (1845-1892) and his Protestant wife Albertine, née Kalthoff (1856-1916). He was baptized Protestant. His confession to the denomination in later life did not prevent him from calling on Protestant clergy to take Bishop Clemens August Graf von Galen as an example. At the age of one he left the upper secondary school in the city of Mülheim . A commercial apprenticeship followed, initially in a lamp shop in Bonn, and finally in the West German jute spinning mill in Beuel . After his apprenticeship, Wolff was a sales representative, which among other things often went on business tripsParis conditional. From October 1, 1901, he did his military service in Bonn as a one-year volunteer with the 6th Company of the 9th Rhineland Infantry Regiment No. 160. He was released on September 20, 1902 as an officer candidate .

Based on a loan from his mother, Wolff founded the iron wholesaler Otto Wolff OHG with partner Ottmar Strauss on June 15, 1904 . Both previously worked for the scrap and iron trading company Nathan Pelzer Wwe. In Cologne-Bayenthal . In 1914, the company achieved monthly sales of more than one million marks for the first time. The First World War gave the company a surge in growth. During the inflation , Wolff became the largest shareholder in Phoenix AG for mining and smelting operations and a major shareholder in Rheinische Stahlwerke . This gave him a strong foothold in industrial production. However, Otto Wolff OHG was primarily a trading company, which was the reason not to support the Six Commission in the Micum negotiations , but to accelerate the resumption of business relations with France through a “separate peace” in 1923 . In 1926 he brought the mentioned shares into the United Steel Works , of whose supervisory board he became a member. In 1931/32 his company found itself in financial difficulties that did not become public because its legal form did not require the disclosure of the balance sheets. In 1940 Wolff held 19 supervisory board mandates, 12 of them in the coal and steel industry .

His orientation towards France made it easy to classify him among the advocates of an independent Rhineland , named in the same group as Paul Silverberg , for whom Wolff was otherwise more of a kind of "Cologne arch enemy". On the other hand, he was particularly interested in doing business with the Soviet Union . While the first attempts were still dominated by hyperinflation, which was initially to be found in the East, the establishment of the German-Russian Trading Corporation (Russgertorg) on October 9, 1922 with Otto Wolff caused a sensation until he withdrew after 15 months due to differences of opinion. But Wolff remained interested in contacts to Eastern Europe. His group was then involved in the Export Association East , and he himself sat on the supervisory board of Industriefinanzierungs-Aktiengesellschaft Ost , which in 1932 helped its companies to obtain loans within the framework of the "pipe consortium" for business in Russia .

Wolff was seen as an intelligent, honest businessman whose personality gave him credit. The innovations in his dealings were the "creation of a market" beyond the usual recognition of sales opportunities, a reversal of the relationship between the iron industry and iron trade with the ideal of commercial management, the banker-like approach of him as an exporter in the co-financed brokerage of goods and the handling of this also as a general contractor in the consortium business (here in the sense of the business of consortia ), which could also be carried out on a large scale with precise planning of the division of labor without financial interlinking of the supplying plants. Otto Wolff succeeded in the latter because, in addition to his adaptability, he was characterized by an empathy for the respective circumstances.

Influencing politics

Wolff was a close confidante of Heinrich Brüning , to whose office he had free access, and a close friend of Kurt von Schleicher . For him he predicted in August 1932 that he would no longer be safe with Hitler in power, which in 1934 was fatally true. As clear as Wolff's opposition to the Nazis appeared before the seizure of power , it is difficult to judge his actions afterwards. If a generalized " appeasement " strategy is asserted for the industrialists , which uncritically accepted discrimination against Jewish industrialists - including Wolff's former partner Ottmar Strauss - what has been handed down to Wolff points to an opposition within the realms of possibility - he was at this time already in poor health. A distinction in responsibility between Otto Wolff , which has been managed by General Representative Rudolf Siedersleben since the end of January 1934, and himself, shows that Otto Wolff was not confiscating his property and not explicitly for personal gain was considered.

Ottmar Strauss had privately speculated five to six million Reichsmarks . In a contract from 1931, Wolff took over the current debts, for which it was agreed that Strauss would leave as a personally liable partner, including a generous monthly pension. Strauss should continue to hold the supervisory board mandate. In order to avoid public exposure to the company, which was in financial difficulty, there was no public report of the departure. On 29./30. April was followed by a notarized separation contract, the change of which Otto Wolff had requested in a letter dated February 28, 1934. After initial resistance, on October 8, 1934, Strauss finally agreed to a modification to his disadvantage, which amounted to being ousted from the company. Among other things, his monthly pension was drastically reduced and his supervisory board mandates withdrawn. In addition, Strauss had to transfer large parts of his assets, consisting of stocks and real estate, to Wolff to settle his debts, which happened below value.

In 1937 the Otto Wolff company acquired the Thale AG ironworks from Dresdner Bank . Albert Ottenheimer was previously one of the main shareholders of the Aryanized company.

According to his own list of his donation activities, Wolff donated 16,900 Reichsmarks in 1931 and 160,800 Reichsmarks in 1932 to the NSDAP , while the DNVP only donated 15,000 Reichsmarks in 1932. Apparently the money went to Gregor Strasser , Hitler's inner-party rival. Walther Funk testified in the Nuremberg trial of the main war criminals that Wolff financed the Nazi politician Robert Ley , who was part of Strasser's staff at the time, before 1933. An informant from Franz Bracht reported the same thing to Bracht in October 1932.

Family and hobby horses

In 1905 Wolff married Anna Maria Sieberg, who was five years his senior. In 1914 they adopted the four-year-old Kurt Weisse, who from 1915 bore the name Otto Wolff. In 1916, Erwin Frank, who was called Hans Wolff from 1916, was adopted. The marriage ended in divorce in 1925. In 1935 Wolff finally adopted his biological son Otto Wolff von Amerongen , who came from an extramarital relationship with his secretary Else Pieper.

After his friend and doctor Paul Beek went to China for the company in the summer of 1934 , with the involvement of Erwin Planck - he developed into a confidante and advisor - Wolff had already ensured the existence of a personality who could serve as a role model for the company heir .

Grave site in the Melaten cemetery

Otto Wolff put together an extensive collection of economic history literature, which later went to the Cologne University Library, and exchanged old editions of Voltaire's works with Oscar Schlitter . He himself wrote the biographical work The Business of Mr. Ouvrard, supported by a historian, and after its publication in 1932 began a work on financing methods at the time of the Thirty Years War , which was not completed.

Otto Wolff was buried in Cologne on the Melaten cemetery (Hauptweg, between Lit.L and Lit.M).

Quotes

"He couldn't even imagine that anything other than business activity would have any sensible purpose."

- Robert Pferdmenges on Otto Wolff

"My personal relationship with Otto Wolff is not bad, that is, as it can be with Mr. Otto Wolff."

- Paul Silverberg to Richard Merton on July 7, 1929

literature

  • Eckart Conze: "Titans of the modern economy". Otto Wolff (1881 - 1940) , in: Peter Danylow / Ulrich S. Soénius (eds.): Otto Wolff. A company between business and politics , Munich 2005, Siedler Verlag. ISBN 3-88680-804-1 , pp. 99-152.
  • Walther Herrmann: Otto Wolff (1881 - 1940) , in: Economic and Business Association in the Rhenish-Westphalian Industrial Area, Historical Commission of Westphalia, Rhenish-Westphalian Economic Archive and Westphalian Economic Archive (ed.): Rheinisch-Westfälische Wirtschaftsbiographien , Volume 8, Münster 1962 , Pp. 123-156.
  • Hans Radandt : Wolff Otto . in: Author collective: Biographical lexicon on German history . Berlin 1970, p. 755 f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walther Herrmann: Otto Wolff (1881 - 1940) , in: Economics and Business Association in the Rheinisch-Westfälische Industriegebiet et al. (Ed.): Rheinisch-Westfälische Wirtschaftsbiographien , Volume 8, Münster 1962, p. 123
  2. ↑ Eckart Conze : "Titans of the modern economy". Otto Wolff (1881-1940). In: Peter Danylow / Ulrich S. Soénius (ed.): Otto Wolff. A company between economy and politics. Siedler-Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-88680-804-1 , pp. 101-106
  3. ^ Boris Gehlen: Paul Silverberg (1876-1959). An entrepreneur , in: Quarterly for social and economic history. Supplement No. 194, Stuttgart 2007, p. 256
  4. ↑ Eckart Conze : "Titans of the modern economy". Otto Wolff (1881 - 1940) , in: Peter Danylow / Ulrich S. Soénius (eds.): Otto Wolff. A company between business and politics , Munich 2005, p. 129
  5. ^ Henning Köhler : Adenauer and the Rhenish Republic. The first attempt 1918-1924 . Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1986, p. 243
  6. ↑ a b Boris Gehlen: Paul Silverberg (1876-1959). An entrepreneur , Stuttgart 2007, p. 130
  7. ^ Hubert Schneider: The Soviet foreign trade monopoly 1920-1925 , Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, Cologne 1973, pp. 89–90
  8. ↑ Walther Herrmann: Otto Wolff (1881 - 1940) , in: Volks- und Betriebswirtschaftliche Vereinigung im Rheinisch-Westfälischen Industriegebiet et al. (Ed.): Rheinisch-Westfälische Wirtschaftsbiographien , Volume 8, Münster 1962, pp. 129, 132, 140, 146 , 147, 133
  9. ^ Henry Ashby Turner : The Big Entrepreneurs and the Rise of Hitler , Berlin 1985, p. 316.
  10. ^ Henry Ashby Turner: The Big Entrepreneurs and the Rise of Hitler , Berlin 1985, p. 504, note 51
  11. ↑ Reinhard Neebe: Big Industry, State and NSDAP 1930-1933. Paul Silverberg and the Reichsverband der Deutschen Industrie in the crisis of the Weimar Republic. Göttingen 1981, p. 195.
  12. ^ Elfi splendor : Ottmar Strauss: industrialist, state official, art collector , in: Julius H. Schoeps et al. (Ed.): Menora. Yearbook for German-Jewish History. 1994 , Munich 1994, p. 54
  13. ^ Astrid von Pufendorf: Erwin Planck, a resistance fighter in the management of Otto Wolff . In: Detlefs J. Blesgen (Ed.): Financiers, Finances and Financing Forms of Resistance , 2006, p. 167.
  14. ↑ Eckart Conze: "Titans of the modern economy". Otto Wolff (1881 - 1940) , in: Peter Danylow / Ulrich S. Soénius (eds.): Otto Wolff. A company between business and politics , Munich 2005, p. 137
  15. ^ Jost Dülffer : The "Otto Wolff Group" 1929 to 1945. In: Peter Danylow Ulrich S. Soénius (Ed.): Otto Wolff. A company between business and politics, Siedler-Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-88680-804-1 , p. 156
  16. ↑ a b Eckart Conze: "Titans of the modern economy". Otto Wolff (1881-1940). In: Peter Danylow / Ulrich S. Soénius (ed.): Otto Wolff. A company between business and politics . Siedler-Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-88680-804-1 , p. 135.
  17. ^ Jost Dülffer: The "Otto Wolff Group" 1929 to 1945. In: Peter Danylow / Ulrich S. Soénius (eds.): Otto Wolff. A company between business and politics, Siedler-Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-88680-804-1 , p. 157
  18. ↑ Dieter Mechlinski: Privy Councilor Ottmar E. Strauss - A forgotten fellow citizen of Königswinter
  19. ↑ StadtRevue - The Cologne Magazine: Albert Ottenheimer, Kölner Bürger , November 2006 edition ( Memento from September 13, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  20. ↑ Wolfgang Ruge , Wolfgang Schumann (Ed.): Documents on German History 1929-1933 . Frankfurt am Main 1977, p. 89.
  21. ↑ Eckart Conze: "Titans of the modern economy". Otto Wolff (1881 - 1940) , in: Peter Danylow / Ulrich S. Soénius (eds.): Otto Wolff. A company between business and politics , Munich 2005, p. 130
  22. ↑ Nuremberg Document EC-440, Statement Funk dated June 28, 1945. Quoted from: Office of the United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality (Ed.): Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression . Supplement A, Washington 1946. online (PDF; 27.0 MB)
  23. ↑ Henry Ashby Turner: The Big Entrepreneurs and the Rise of Hitler . Siedler Verlag, Berlin 1985, p. 317.
  24. ↑ Eckart Conze : "Titans of the modern economy". Otto Wolff (1881-1940). In: Peter Danylow / Ulrich S. Soénius (ed.): Otto Wolff. A company between business and politics. Siedler-Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-88680-804-1 , pp. 126–128
  25. ^ Astrid von Pufendorf: The Plancks. A family between patriotism and resistance . Propylaen Verlag, Berlin 2006, p. 380. ISBN 978-3-549-07277-6
  26. ↑ Walther Herrmann: Otto Wolff (1881 - 1940) , in: Volks- und Betriebswirtschaftliche Vereinigung im Rheinisch-Westfälischen Industriegebiet et al. (Ed.): Rheinisch-Westfälische Wirtschaftsbiographien , Volume 8, Münster 1962, p. 155
  27. ^ Josef Abt, Johann Ralf Beines, Celia Körber-Leupold: Melaten - Cologne graves and history . Greven, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-7743-0305-3 , p. 232
  28. ↑ Walther Herrmann: Otto Wolff (1881 - 1940) , in: Volks- und Betriebswirtschaftliche Vereinigung im Rheinisch-Westfälische Industriegebiet et al. (Ed.): Rheinisch-Westfälische Wirtschaftsbiographien , Volume 8, Münster 1962, p. 125
personal data
SURNAME Wolff, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH April 8, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Bonn
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1940
Place of death Berlin