August Thyssen

August Thyssen (IPA2|ˈaʊgʊst ˈtʏsən) (Eschweiler, May 17, 1842, – Schloss Landsberg bei Kettwig, April 4, 1926) was a German industrialist.

Career and marriage

After he had completed his studies at the Polytechnische Schule Karlsruhe and a commercial school at Antwerp he like his brother Joseph Thyssen joined the bank of his father Friedrich Thyssen.

In 1867 Thyssen and several members of his family founded the iron works "Thyssen-Foussol & Co" in Duisburg. When this company was dissolved in 1870, he used the new capital to establish with his father the "Walzwerk Thyssen & Co" that would become the base of an industrial empire in the industrialized Mülheim an der Ruhr, where the high of iron and steel prizes contributed to the making of his fortune. Initially he managed different companies separately in a decentralized fashion, but eventually he united them through a holding company. The largest company of his was the coal mining company "Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser" in Hamborn (now part of Duisburg) that he had acquired in 1891.

He built the first 500-ton blast furnace in Germany, the first 100-ton Martin furnace, and the first large tube (iron pipe size) works. Together with Hugo Stinnes Thyssen was a cofounder of RWE.

On December 3, 1872 in Mülheim an der Ruhr he married Hedwig Pelzer (Mülheim an der Ruhr, September 29, 1854 – Brussels, April 21, 1940), daughter of Johann-Heinrich Pelzer (November 26 1822 – March 10 1884) and wife (m. December 8 1847) Hedwig Troost (February 15 1828 – aft. 1901), paternal granddaughter of Heinrich Pelzer (January 15 1775 – April 30 1855) and wife (m. August 4 1816) Katharina Erdemann (May 28 1786 – August 7 1867), maternal granddaughter of Ferdinand Troost and wife and great-granddaughter of Johann-Heinrich Peltzer (Baptized July 10, 1743 – September 23, 1829) and wife (m. Mülheim an der Ruhr, February 8, 1761/1769?) Sibilla Killmann (– July 15, 1830). They divorced in 1885. The four children during the marriage were Fritz, August, Heinrich and Hedwig. To avoid the possibility that his divorce would lead to a partitioning of his industrial empire, Thyssen transferred the property to his children, but retained the management rights for himself during his life time. The Thyssen conglomerate became part of the Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG prior to World War II. The Thyssen companies after WW II joined with KruppHoesch to become ThyssenKrupp AG in 1997.

Thyssen purchased most of Beeckerwerth, including Haus Knipp, in the early 20th century.

He was the first in his family to start acquiring a collection of works of art, including six pieces by sculptor Auguste Rodin, who was his friend.

Thyssen died in 1926 of pneumonia following complications from eye surgery. [Eyre, L: "Thyssen Dead at 84: Leaves $100,000,000", "New York Times", Apr 5, 1926 p. 1]

Children

His children were:
* Friedrich "Fritz" Thyssen (1873 – 1951), industrialist
* August Thyssen (Mülheim an der Ruhr, September 25, 1874 – Munich, June 13, 1943), [http://www.thyssenkrupp.com/ml/pb/bilder/27/NC_886.jpg] married and had a son:
** Bodo Thyssen, Dr. (1918 – 2004), industrialist and medical doctor
* Heinrich Freiherr Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon et Impérfalva (1875 – 1947), industrialist and art collector
* Hedwig Thyssen (Mülheim an der Ruhr, December 19, 1878 – Kreuzlingen, Turgau, July 31, 1950), married firstly in Mülheim an der Ruhr, August 28, 1899 and divorced in 1908 Ferdinand Freiherr von Neufforge (Aachen, August 30, 1869 – Davos, September 7, 1942), married secondly in London, February 9, 1908 Maximilian (Max) Freiherr von Berg (Steierdorf, Krassó-Szörény vm, May 1, 1859 – Neu-Friedenheim, March 25, 1924); she had a natural son, for he used his mother's last name:
** "Joseph Thyssen"

References

Other reading

* Manfred Rasch, Gerald D. Feldman (Hrsg.): "August Thyssen und Hugo Stinnes. Ein Briefwechsel 1898-1922", München (C.H.Beck) 2003 - ISBN 3-406-49637-7

ee also

* Thyssen
* Thyssen family

External links

* [http://www.thyssenkrupp.com/ Official site of ThyssenKrupp Company]
* [http://www.thyssen-krupp.de/de/konzern/geschichte_grfam_t1.html Official biography by ThyssenKrupp]
* [http://worldroots.com/~brigitte/famous/f/francescathyssenanc1958.htm Ancestors of Baroness Francesca Anne Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kaszon]
* [http://worldroots.com/~brigitte/famous/e/eleonoreaustriaanc1994.htm Ancestors of Archduchess Eleonore of Austria]
* [http://worldroots.com/~brigitte/famous/f/ferdinandaustriaanc1997.htm Ancestors of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria]
* [http://worldroots.com/~brigitte/famous/g/gloriaaustriaanc1999.htm Ancestors of Archduchess Gloria of Austria]
* [http://genealogy.euweb.cz/hung/thyssen.html Thyssen-Bornemissza de Kászon et Impérfalva Family]