His death was unexpected. Friedrich Alfred Krupp, head of the international Krupp Group, died 100 years ago on November 22, 1902 at the age of just 48. Friedrich Alfred was a man of many talents active not just in business but also in politics and science. Born on February 17, 1854, he joined the family firm at the age of 21, taking over the helm after the death of his father Alfred in 1887. In the following period he expanded the company into an integrated group, most notably by incorporating the Grusonwerk plant in Magdeburg and the Germania shipyard in Kiel and building a modern iron and steel mill in Rheinhausen. Under his management, the group`s sales and workforce more than doubled. Friedrich Alfred Krupp made his mark above all in the field of research and development. He set up chemical and metallurgical laboratories within the company, without which subsequent inventions such as "Nirosta" stainless steel would hardly have been possible. Recent publications such as the Krupp history by Lothar Gall illustrate the extent to which Friedrich Alfred Krupp succeeded in escaping from the long shadow of his father.

Politically, Friedrich Alfred Krupp was a moderate conservative. For a number of years he was a member of the Reichstag and had close associations with the imperial house. However, his true passion was natural science. Unusually for a businessman, he took a hand personally in the marine research carried out by the "Stazione Zoologica" in Naples for which he also provided financial support. In Italy, especially in Capri, where Friedrich Alfred Krupp, sickly from early childhood, spent many months in his final years, he literally came to life. This was also where he came in search of peace, a naturally retiring man who in Germany constantly faced the glare of publicity. Friedrich Alfred Krupp is one of the German empire`s key industrialists, remembered to this day in Capri by the beautiful "Via Krupp" whose building he financed.

Contact:

Klaus Pepperhoff
ThyssenKrupp AG
Telephone +49 (0) 211 824-36007
Fax +49 (0) 211 824-36041
E-mail: pepperhoff@tk.thyssenkrupp.com