Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach

^{(August 13, 1907 - July 30, 1967)}

Alfried von Bohlen und Halbach is born on August 13, 1907, the eldest of eight children of Bertha and Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach. He takes his school graduation in Essen and then begins to study metallurgy, graduating in 1934 with a degree in engineering from RWTH Aachen University. After an internship at the Dresdner Bank in Berlin, he joined the family business in October 1936 and was appointed to the board of directors two years later. As his father's designated successor, he was soon called upon to serve on the supervisory boards of foreign companies and in business organizations. For example, he is deputy chairman of the Reich Association of Iron, founded in 1942. In 1943 he takes over management of the company, becomes sole owner of the firm and at the same time is granted the right to call himself Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach.

Shortly before the end of World War II, on April 11, 1945, Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach is arrested by American troops. Three years later an American military tribunal in Nuremberg sentences him to twelve years in prison and confiscation of all his assets. After he is pardoned in 1951 and the confiscation of the Krupp assets is lifted, he returns to the helm of his company in 1953. In November of the same year he appoints Berthold Beitz (1913 - 2013) as his personal chief representative. The task at hand is to rebuild the company, whose substance is endangered by war damage, dismantling and the reorganization of the coal and steel industry planned by the Allies. This is achieved within a few years by setting new production focuses and successfully returning to international markets. At the end of the 1950s Krupp is one of the top-selling companies in the Federal Republic of Germany.

In spring 1967 Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach announces the forthcoming conversion of the company into a limited liability company (GmbH), the shares in which are to be held by a charitable foundation. This is made possible by the renunciation of the inheritance by his son Arndt. He dies on July 30, 1967.

Privately he has not led a very happy life. In 1937 he married Annelise Lampert, née Bahr (1909 - 1998). In the following year his son Arndt von Bohlen und Halbach (1938 - 1986) was born. The marriage is divorced in 1941. In 1952 he enters into a second marriage, with Vera Knauer, née Hossenfeld (1909 - 1967). This marriage is divorced in 1957.
Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach is a passionate sailor and photographer. At the 1936 Olympic Games he celebrates his greatest sporting success with his sailing yacht "Germania III" as bronze medal winner. As a photographer, he traveled the world and left behind a collection of photographs, which today is kept in the Krupp Historical Archive. After his death his record collection is donated to the Folkwang University of the Arts.