Gerd Stieler von Heydekampf
| Gerd Stieler von Heydekampf | |
|---|---|
| Born |
5 January 1905 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | 25 January 1983 Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany |
| Occupation | Automobile Executive Chairman of NSU |
| Spouse(s) | Elisabeth Stieler von Heydekampf born Elisabeth Heuschen 1908-1978 |
Gerd Stieler von Heydekampf (5 January 1905 – 25 January 1983) was an engineer who became a leading figure in the German automobile industry during the 1950s and 1960s. He joined NSU in 1948, becoming the company's chairman in 1953. Following the takeover of the company by Volkswagen, he stayed on as chairman of the new conglomerate's Audi-NSU division till 31 March 1971 when he retired following a heart attack.
Gerd Stieler von Heydekampf was born into an old Prussian aristocratic-military family in Berlin during the economically dynamic first decade of the twentieth century. His father died in 1907. Between 1923 and 1927 he studied Mechanical engineering at the Braunschweig University of Technology, emerging with an engineering doctorate in 1929. He then spent several years working in the United States. Here he worked first for Babcock & Wilcox and then with Baldwin Locomotive Works. On returning to Germany he joined Adam Opel AG, Germany's largest automobile manufacturer, which in 1929 had been acquired by the US based General Motors Corporation (as it was known at the time). Within Opel von Heydekampf was soon promoted, in 1936 joining the board and taking charge of the company's purchasing function. Further promotion followed in October 1938 when he took over as General Manager, in succession to Hanns Grewenig, at Opel's new Brandenburg truck plant.
Régime change hit Germany in January 1933 and the Hitler government lost little time in imposing one-party government. The same year Stieler von Heydekampf became a Nazi Party member. He was then, in 1935, appointed a Wehrwirtschaftsführer (literally "military economic leader"), a quasi-military honour given by government to senior industry figures expected to be supportive in any future military rearmament programme.
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