Gustav Krupp

Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach
Gustav Krupp in 1915
Born	7 August 1870 The Hague, Netherlands
Died	16 January 1950(1950-01-16) (aged 79) Werfen, Salzburg, Austria
Alma mater	University of Heidelberg
Occupation	Ran the German heavy industry conglomerate, Friedrich Krupp AG 1909-1943
Spouse(s)	Bertha Krupp
Children	Alfried Krupp

Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (7 August 1870 – 16 January 1950) ran the German Friedrich Krupp AG heavy industry conglomerate from 1909 until 1941. He and his son Alfried would lead the company through two world wars, producing almost everything for the German war machine from U-boats, battleships, howitzers, trains, railway guns, machine guns, cars, tanks, and much more. Krupp produced the Tiger I tank, Big Bertha, the Paris Gun, among other inventions under Gustav. Following the war, plans to prosecute Gustav Krupp as a war criminal at the 1945 Nuremberg Trials were dropped because by then he was bedridden and senile.

Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach was born Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach in The Hague in 1870. He was a grandson of Henry Bohlen and related to Charles E. Bohlen and Karoline of Wartensleben. He married Bertha Krupp in October 1906. Bertha had inherited her family's company in 1902 at age 16 after the death of her father, Friedrich Krupp.German Emperor Kaiser William II personally led a search for a suitable spouse for Bertha, as it was considered unthinkable for the Krupp empire to be headed by a woman. Gustav was picked from his previous post at the Vatican. The Kaiser announced at the wedding that Gustav would be allowed to add the Krupp name to his own. Gustav became company chairman in 1909.

After 1910, the Krupp company became a member and major funder of the Pan-German League (Alldeutscher Verband) which mobilised popular support in favour of two army bills, in 1912 and 1913, to raise Germany's standing army to 738,000 men.