Emil Kirdorf
| Emil Kirdorf | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | April 8, 1847 |
| Died | July 13, 1938 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Industrialist |
| Known for | One of the first important employers in the Ruhr industrial sectors |
Emil Kirdorf (8 April 1847 – 13 July 1938) was a German industrialist, one of the first important employers in the Ruhr industrial sectors. He was personally awarded by Adolf Hitler the Order of the German Eagle, Nazi Germany's highest distinctions, on his 90th birthday in 1937, for his support to the Nazi Party in the late 1920s.
Emil Kirdorf was born at Mettmann, Rhine Province. His father was a wealthy owner of a weaving mill. He had a brother named Adolf who would be his business partner during his adult life. Kirdorf volunteered a year in 1864 in Hamburg to work in an export enterprise. A year later, he worked in a textile company in Krefeld. The family's mill went bankrupt, mainly because of the management's refusal to introduce mechanical looms. Kirdorf therefore changed to mining industry in which he worked as an accountant. Following the Franco-Prussian War, he became director of Zeche Holland in 1871. Two years later, the entrepreneur Friedrich Grillo offered him the position of commercial director in the Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG (GBAG) company. He became general manager of GBAG in 1893. He steered the company through the Long Depression of the 1870s, and held this position until 1926.
Under his direction, the GBAG became the largest coal mines European enterprise, and Emil Kirdorf became known as the "Chimney Baron" (Schlotbarons). Hansa, Zollern and Germania companies were integrated to GBAG under Kirdorf's leadership. Kirdorf then was one of the main founder of the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Kohlen-Syndikat employers union in 1893, member of its board of directors until 1913. 98 mine enterprises of the Ruhr belonged to this union, which tried, among others aims, to prevent dumping.
...
Wikipedia