Conrad Wilhelm Eger

Conrad Wilhelm Eger, often referred to as C. W. Eger (1880–1966) was a Norwegian businessperson. An associate of Sam Eyde, Eger was the chief executive officer of Elkem for decades, and later played a role in building the Norwegian iron industry.

Business career

Eger became affiliated with industrialist Sam Eyde.^[1] From 1907 to 1908, Eger headed Eyde's engineer office in Kristiania. Between 1908 and 1910, he oversaw the construction of the power plant at Lienfoss in Telemark. In 1911 Eger took over as CEO of the company Arendals Fossekompani. The next year, he became CEO of the company Elektrokemisk, later renamed Elkem.^[1] In the same year, he was also named as chair of the silicon carbide production company Arendal Smelteverk.^[2]

World War II

On 9 April 1940, Norway had been invaded by Germany as a part of World War II. The ruling cabinet Nygaardsvold and the Royal Family fled the country, and Fascist politician Vidkun Quisling took advantage of the situation to perform a coup d'etat. However, this was highly unpopular among the Norwegian people, and the newly arrived German occupants did not support such a government either. The Supreme Court of Norway, with support by directors in business life and civil administration, were given the green light by German envoy Curt Bräuer to establish the so-called Administrative Council.^[3] On 3 May 1940, the Administrative Council established the Committee for Industry and Trade (Nemnda for industri og omsetning), to maintain industrial production in Norway throughout the hardships of the war. Conrad Wilhelm Eger had a central role in this committee, together with Carl Bøyesen, Einar Schjelderup, Elias Volan and chairman Einar Sunde.^[4] Eger was also a member of a committee which reviewed the potential for building more aluminium plants.^[5]

The German occupants eventually tightened their control over Norway, spearheaded by Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. The Administrative Council was abolished on 25 September 1940,^[5] and the Committee for Industry and Trade was abolished in February 1941.^[4]

Eger was also a central figure in Hjemmefrontens Ledelse.^[1]

Post-World War II

Eger was instrumental in the establishment of Norsk Jernverk in Mo i Rana in 1946,^[1] having been appointed as chairman of the national Ironworks Commission in August 1945 by the first cabinet Gerhardsen.^[6] He stepped down as the CEO of Elkem in 1950.^[1]

The Committee for Industry and Trade was scrutinized after the war, as a part of the legal purge in Norway after World War II.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Eger, Conrad Wilhelm". Store norske leksikon. Kunnskapsforlaget. 2007. http://www.snl.no/article.html?id=10356486. Retrieved 29 January 2009. 
2. ^ Raustøl, Bård. "A/S Arendal Smelteverk - bedriftshistorie" (in Norwegian). The Eydehavn Portal. http://www.aaks.no/Eydehavn/Bedriftene/Smelteverket/bedriftshistorie. Retrieved 29 January 2009. 
3. ^ Dahl, Hans Fredrik (1995). "Administrasjonsrådet". In Dahl, Hans Fredrik (in Norwegian). Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45. Oslo: Cappelen. http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/a/a1.html#administrasjonsradet. Retrieved 29 January 2009. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Espeli, Harald (1995). "Nemnda for industri og omsetning". In Dahl, Hans Fredrik (in Norwegian). Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45. Oslo: Cappelen. http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/n/n2.html#nemnda-industri. Retrieved 29 January 2009. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Karlsen, Kristian Jøssund (Master's thesis) (2007). "Norsk Aluminium Company (NACO) under 2. verdenskrig" (in Norwegian). Norwegian University of Science and Technology. http://www.hf.ntnu.no/hist/prosjekter/aluminium/dokumenter/kristian%20karlsen%20-%20norsk%20aluminium%20company.pdf. Retrieved 29 January 2009. 
6. ^ http://okstind.monet.no/webprod/mip/historie8.html

Persondata
Name	Eger, Conrad Wilhelm
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1880
Place of birth
Date of death	1966
Place of death