Reichswerke Hermann Göring
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Reichswerke Hermann Göring was an industrial conglomerate in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
from 1937 until 1945. It was established to extract and process domestic
iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
s from
Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven ''Oberzentren'' of Lower ...
that were deemed uneconomical by the privately held
steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finish ...
s. The state-owned Reichswerke was seen as a vehicle of hastening growth in
ore mining Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April ...
and steel output regardless of private capitalists' plans and opinions, which ran contrary to
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's strategic vision. In November 1937, Reichsminister of Aviation
Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
obtained unchecked access to state financing and launched a chain of mergers, diversifying into military industries with the absorption of
Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Its shares are traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange. History Rheinmetall was founded in 1889. Banker and investor Lorenz Zuckermandel L ...
. Göring himself supervised the Reichswerke but did not own it in any sense and did not make personal profit from it directly, although at times he withdrew cash for personal expenses.Overy, p. 145. After the
Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
, the Reichswerke absorbed
Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
heavy industries, including those owned by private German investors. The cluster of steel mills and supporting companies in
Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...
became its most important asset. Nazi leadership regarded captured assets as the property of the state and were not willing to share the spoils with German businesses.Overy, p. 108. After the German occupation of
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
, the Reichswerke absorbed between 50 and 60 per cent of Czech heavy industries.Overy, p. 155. The pattern was repeated in
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,
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and the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. The Reichswerke operated captured assets as far from its base as
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in
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and
Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...
in eastern
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. It provided one-eighth of German steel output during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Overy, p. 113. and created a Nazi-controlled military complex that was independent of private interests.Overy, p. 151. By the end of 1941 the Reichswerke became the largest company in Europe and probably in the whole world, with a capital of and about half a million workers. In 1942 the Reichswerke's inefficient corporate structure was reduced in size. Its weapons and munitions assets were integrated into the Ministry of Armaments; the mining and steel core of the Reichswerke continued operation under Göring's supervision until the end of the war, albeit at a loss. The conglomerate was dismembered by the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
in 1944–1945, but the Salzgitter plant continued operations as ''Reichswerke'' until 1953.Neumann, p. 30. The Reichswerke logo, which resembled Göring's
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
, remained in use by Peine+Salzgitter until the middle of the 1980s.


Salzgitter

In 1935–1936 German steel industry, concentrated in the
Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
area, recovered from the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and reached nearly full utilization of its mills. It was dominated by privately held
Vereinigte Stahlwerke The Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG (VSt or Vestag, ''United Steelworks'') was a German industrial conglomerate producing coal, iron, and steel in the interbellum and during World War II. Founded in 1926, economic pressures (decreasing prices and exces ...
(VS),
Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...
, Gutehoffnungshütte and
Mannesmann Mannesmann was a German industrial conglomerate. It was originally established as a manufacturer of steel pipes in 1890 under the name "Deutsch-Österreichische Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG". (Loosely translated: "German-Austrian Mannesmann pi ...
. Three quarters of
iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
processed in Germany was imported; domestic ore reserves in the
Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven ''Oberzentren'' of Lower ...
area were deemed to be of too poor quality to be economical.Overy, p. 97. Demand for iron and steel rose in line with the rise in military spending, further increasing dependence on imports. Influential people inside the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
, including Hitler's economic advisor
Wilhelm Keppler Wilhelm Karl Keppler (14 December 1882 – 13 June 1960) was a German businessman and one of Adolf Hitler's early financial backers. Introduced to Hitler by Heinrich Himmler, Keppler helped to finance the Nazi Party and later served as one of Hi ...
, rallied to increase domestic iron ore mining. Iron ore became the principal problem of the
Four Year Plan The Four Year Plan was a series of economic measures initiated by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany in 1936. Hitler placed Hermann Göring in charge of these measures, making him a Reich Plenipotentiary (Reichsbevollmächtigter) whose jurisdiction cut a ...
(1936–1940). In October 1936 Göring learned that Stewarts & Lloyds foundry in
Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 Census, the built-up area had a population of 5 ...
, United Kingdom, had successfully smelted low-grade ores; the new technology removed the barriers for Göring's plans. In December 1936 Göring announced that domestic ore, iron and steel program had become a national priority and that he would not tolerate hesitation or obstruction by private owners of the resources. Private capital raised their objections against rapid growth, and Göring settled to take ore mining under state control.Overy, p. 98. Throughout the first half of 1937 Göring rallied for a self-sufficient steel industry, and against the steel barons. His radical calls improved his own political weight and silenced the opposition. Göring's aim of bringing the economy in line with
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's strategic plans was fully supported by the Nazi press.Overy, p. 99. The danger of relying on ore imports was proven by the strikes and anti-Nazi sentiment in Sweden and by the success of the
Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...
in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. In July 1937 the steel barons were stunned by a decree which instituted the ''Reichswerke'', an integrated state company tasked with surpassing the Ruhr in finished steel output.Overy, p. 100. Fearing creation of excessive industrial capacity and cutthroat competition with the state, they cautiously discussed the ways of curbing Göring's ambitions. They joined arms with Göring's adversary, Reichsminister of Economics
Hjalmar Schacht Hjalmar Schacht (born Horace Greeley Hjalmar Schacht; 22 January 1877 – 3 June 1970, ) was a German economist, banker, centre-right politician, and co-founder in 1918 of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner ...
, who denied state financing to Göring's project.Overy, p. 104. On July 23, 1937, Göring announced that the Reichswerke would begin mining and processing Salzgitter ores and that the government would take over privately held ore deposits in exchange for minority shares in the new enterprises. Paul Pleiger became the managing director. Critics argued that the Salzgitter project would consume more steel than it could produce in three years.Overy, p. 114. The Ruhr attempted a coordinated response, but
wire-tapping Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
and surveillance gave Göring advance knowledge of the steel barons' moves and he preempted their organized action through personal threats and promises.Overy, p. 105. The steel barons escaped an open confrontation with the regime but the trust between Nazi leadership and big business was lost forever. Schacht was compelled to resign in November 1937, his function passed to Göring.Overy, p. 106.


Slave labour

The Salzgitter project recruited its workforce from all over Germany,Neumann, p. 19.
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, the Netherlands and other countries. It produced its first
pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with silic ...
in October 1939 and its first steel in August 1940. A large metalworking plant, Stahlwerke Braunschweig, was built nearby, starting in March 1940; eventually it became one of the largest plants in the country, employing ten thousand workers.Neumann, p. 20. The majority of Salzgitter area staff, 47,000 workers, were non-Germans. In five years, 1937 to 1942, population increased fivefold. Housing was not sufficient even for native Germans; foreign workers had to live in seventy makeshift camps.Neumann, p. 21. The
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
ran an on-site
concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
for the delinquent workers.
Forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
of prisoners from
Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...
was not employed until May 1944; the three camps that supplied slaves to Salzgitter contained up to 6,500 prisoners. Another local camp, Drutte, supplied slave workers for the Reichswerke's ammunition plants from 1942 (see ''
List of subcamps of Neuengamme Below is an incomplete list of SS subcamps of Neuengamme camp system operating from 1938 until 1945. The Neuengamme concentration camp established by the SS in Hamburg, Germany, became a massive Nazi concentration camp complex using prisoner for ...
'', '' Celler Hasenjagd''). Salzgitter was the target of
Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
bombings several times but damage to the plant was insignificant. Its
blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...
s operated until captured by the Americans in April 1945.Neumann, p. 25.


Expansion

After the removal of Schacht in November 1937, the Reichswerke rapidly grew while privately held steel mills of the Ruhr were deprived of capital (their capacity remained at 16 million tons p.a. until the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
).Overy, p. 107. In February 1938 Göring pumped up the Reichswerke capital from , starting a chain of mergers. In April the Reichswerke moved into weapons production by absorbing
Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Its shares are traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange. History Rheinmetall was founded in 1889. Banker and investor Lorenz Zuckermandel L ...
.Overy, p. 108. In a few following months the Reichswerke consolidated most of Austrian heavy industries, from extraction of ore to production of advanced weapons.Overy, p. 150. Göring turned his eyes to Austrian steel in 1937.Overy, p. 148. The
Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
of March 1938 gave him practically unlimited access to Austrian resources. The Reichswerke's activities in Austria demonstrated that Göring regarded captured assets as state property and was not willing to share the fortunes with private German businesses – on the contrary, the Reichswerke absorbed Austrian assets that were already owned by German investors and completely eliminated the barons of Ruhr from Austrian industry. Its primary target in Austria, steel company, was 56% owned by German giant VS. Immediately after the Anschluss, Göring advised VS to speed up mining its Austrian ores, and again the private business refused for fear of overproduction.Overy, p. 109. The Reichswerke purchased a non-controlling share in Alpine and then wrestled complete control over the company for six months. Regulatory pressure threatened to devalue Alpine, and in March 1939Overy, p. 149. VS stepped aside. Alpine's ore resources were vital for Göring's second great project – the new
vertically integrated In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the supply ...
cluster of steel mills in Linz which also included
Eisenwerke Oberdonau Eisenwerke Oberdonau (German for ''Steel Works of Upper Danube'') was a large steel and iron producing company, a holding of several steel works in southern Germany. Created after the Anschluss of Austria, it formed the part of the so-called '' Rei ...
and numerous construction and shipping companies. Göring, in his functions of President of
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
and Chief of the
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
, also established close ties between the Reichswerke and the oil and aircraft industries.Overy, p. 164. Relationships between the state and steel barons continued to deteriorate, and Göring used the same pattern of intimidation to
extort Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, al ...
other Austrian and later Czech assets from their past owners.Overy, p. 110. The Reichswerke absorbed 50 to 60 per cent of Czech heavy industry, and a slightly lesser share in Austria.Overy, p. 155. Takeover mechanisms ranged from bona fide stock purchase to control by proxy through dependent local banks to outright confiscation, as was the case of the British-owned
Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of F ...
mill in Vitkovice.Overy, p. 154.
Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...
, annexed in 1938, brought the first substantial coal reserves.Overy, p. 151. In Germany, the Reichswerke effectively subdued the Ruhr barons by forcing them to supply coal to Salzgitter blast furnaces, commissioned in 1939, at below-market price.Overy, p. 111. "Acquisition" of Polish coal mines allowed the Reichswerke to drop coal prices even lower. After the outbreak of the war, the Reichswerke abandoned peacetime formalities and simply took over all "German" assets it found attractive. It declared itself "a
trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...
for the German state" for the duration of the war, a white knight saving occupied countries from "
colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
" of big business.Overy, p. 114. Settlements and compensations, when recognized, were delayed until the end of the war. But the Reichswerke's own post-war plans, developed in 1942, called for a further increase of state control over heavy industries and industrialization of the eastern territories at the expense of the Ruhr. The Reichswerke clearly favored industrial development in Central Europe, rather than Germany itself, in part because it was out of reach of Allied bombers. By 1943–1944 half of the Reichswerke iron and steel were produced in the occupied territories, the other half in Germany (including annexed Austria). The
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
coal and steel industry captured in 1941–1942 became the Reichswerke's most challenging task. Hitler tasked the Reichswerke with harvesting the abandoned plants as soon as possible. Pleiger compelled the old steel barons of the Ruhr to send in their managing teams and literally "adopt" the Soviet assets. Reluctant steel barons objected but had to comply with Hitler's explicit order.Overy, p. 173. Radical Nazis objected, for different reasons, but could not offer a better solution.Overy, p. 159.
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n assets, almost all of the country's coal and steel capacity, were acquired through a series of friendly arrangements and placed under joint German-Romanian control. Particular care was given to the largest Romanian shipyard at Galați. In 1942, the Romanian shipyard signed an agreement for "assistance in technical matters" with the Reichswerke. The shipyard's capital increased eleven-fold, from 50 to 550 million lei. That same year, the
Romanian Navy The Romanian Navy ( ro, Forțele Navale Române) is the navy branch of the Romanian Armed Forces; it operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860. History The Romanian Navy was founded in 1860 as a river flot ...
submarines ''Marsuinul'' and ''Rechinul'', laid down in 1938, were finally completed. Another notable achievement of that year was the launching of Romania's first locally-built tanker, ''SRT-128''. In 1943, four modified M-class
minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...
s were built in Romania from German materials. This German-Romanian collaboration also benefited the ''
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
'', as the Romanian shipyard assembled six coastal U-boats between 1942 and 1943. The Romanian shipyard also took part in the assembly of S-boats.


Restructuring

By the end of 1941 the Reichswerke became the largest company in Europe. The conglomerate experienced a series of reorganizations; in January 1941 its assets were arranged in three divisions:Overy, pp. 162-163. * ''Block A'' - Coal, Iron and Steel (Germany, Austria, Bohemia and Moravia, France, Luxembourg, Poland and Romania) * ''Block B'' - Weapons and Munitions (Germany, Austria, Bohemia and Moravia) * ''Block C'' - River and Rail Transportation A fourth division was added later for captured Soviet assets –
Kryvbas :''Kryvbas'' ''may also refer to the FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, the football team in Kryvyi Rih. See also Kryvbas (disambiguation)'' Kryvbas (, full name Kryvorizkyi Iron Ore Basin, ) is an important economic and historical region in central Ukraine ...
and
Donets Basin The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Don ...
plants and mines in
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, with lesser interests in
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
,
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
and central Russia. The Reichswerke amassed too many plants to run them effectively. Instead of pinpointing the most promising assets, it spread the available resources over everything it had. Its managers did not feel the pressure of competition that shaped the management of private companies.Overy, p. 173. Richard Overy noted that Göring's obsession with long-term mega-projects not only drained the economy, but was in stark contrast with the ideology of ''
blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg ( , ; from 'lightning' + 'war') is a word used to describe a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with close air su ...
''.Overy, p. 245. Inability to control the huge conglomerate became evident in 1942, and Pleiger persuaded Göring to limit the Reichswerke to coal, iron, and steel production. The Reichswerke passed control over its weapons and munitions plants to
Organisation Todt Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering projec ...
and its successor, the Ministry of Armaments.Overy, p. 164. Still, the organization operated at a loss; in fact, ''Block A'' posted losses in every year of its existence, from 1939 to 1945.Overy, p. 170, table 5.4. The French operations fared even worse.Overy, p. 170.


Liquidation

The assets of the Reichswerke acquired by conquest were recaptured by Allied troops between 1943–1945 - these included assets of
ARBED The Aciéries Réunies de Burbach-Eich-Dudelange ( French; literally "United Steelworks of Burbach-Eich-Dudelange"), better known by its acronym ARBED, was a major Luxembourg-based steel and iron producing company. Created in 1911 after the merge ...
(Luxembourg) and
Skoda Works Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...
.Overy, p. 139. The Reichswerke assets in
allied-occupied Austria The Allied occupation of Austria started on 8 May 1945 with the fall of Nazi Germany and ended with the Austrian State Treaty on 27 July 1955. After the in 1938, Austria had generally been recognized as part of Nazi Germany. In 1943, however, ...
were nationalized by the ''First Nationalization Law'' enacted by the Austrian parliament on July 26, 1946.Tweraser, p. 293. The ore mines in
Erzberg , photo=HochtorOedsteinGroup FromS HoherZinken.jpg , photo_caption=Hochtor - Ödstein Group (Gesäuse) (from right to left) as seen from Hoher Zinken in the south , country= Austria , subdivision1_type=States , subdivision1= , parent= Northe ...
and the steel mills in Linz, destroyed by allied air raids, were reorganized into the state-owned VÖEST (now part of
Voestalpine Voestalpine AG – stylized as voestalpine – is an Austrian steel-based technology and capital goods group based in Linz, Austria. The company is active in steel, automotive, railway systems, profilform and tool steel industries. As of 201 ...
). Reconstruction of these assets became a key priority of the
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
in Austria. Nationalization was supported by the
US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...
and opposed by
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
generals, who called for privatization.Tweraser, p. 294.
Steyr-Daimler-Puch Steyr-Daimler-Puch () was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria, which was broken up in stages between 1987 and 2001. The component parts and operations continued to exist under separate ownership and new names. History T ...
, once owned by the Reichswerke and controlled by the US Army, became a pilot model for the private modernization advocated by
Mark W. Clark Mark Wayne Clark (May 1, 1896 – April 17, 1984) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He was the youngest four-star general in the US Army during World War II. During World War I ...
. Eventually the Department of State prevailed and the Austrians were allowed to nationalize the plants at will. The Reichswerke assets in the Soviet zone of occupation were taken over by the
Administration for Soviet Property in Austria The Administration for Soviet Property in Austria, or the USIA (russian: УСИА, Управление советским имуществом в Австрии) was formed in the Soviet zone of Allied-occupied Austria in June 1946 and operat ...
and returned to Austria for a ransom in 1955. The Salzgitter furnaces were shut down and earmarked for dismantling, devastating the town's economy.Neumann, p. 25. Dismantling began in earnest in 1947 and ended with the demolition of furnaces and foundries.Neumann, p. 26. Salzgitter was flooded with forty four thousand German refugees from the East, unemployment exceeded 30%, and the British considered physically resettling the residents in fear of a
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
uprising. Of the thirty seven thousand
displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...
s (mostly from Poland) working in Salzgitter in 1945, many refused to be resettled, and
deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
s continued until mid-1950s.Neumann, p. 28. In February 1950 the workers stood up against demolition of their plants and eventually won the bloodless standoff with British troops. Dismantling continued for another year, but steelmaking in Salzgitter was saved. The state-owned plant operated under the name ''Reichswerke'' until 1953, was renamed AG für Bergbau- und Hüttenbetrieb, and eventually became
Salzgitter AG Salzgitter AG is a German company, one of the largest steel producers in Europe with an annual output of around seven million tonnes. With over 100 subsidiaries and associated companies, the Group is structured in five divisions – Steel, Tr ...
.Neumann, p. 30. The Reichswerke logo, which resembled Göring's
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
, was not replaced until the 1980s.


Notes


References

* Neumann, Klaus (2000).
Shifting memories: the Nazi past in the new Germany
'. University of Michigan Press. . * Overy, R. J. (1995).
War and economy in the Third Reich
'. Oxford University Press. . * Tweraser, Kurt (2000). ''The Marshall Plan and the Reconstruction of the Austrian Steel Industry 1945-1953''. in: Bischof, Gunther et al. (2000).
The Marshall Plan in Austria
'.
Transaction Publishers Transaction Publishers was a New Jersey-based publishing house that specialized in social science books and journals. It was located on the Livingston Campus of Rutgers University. Transaction was sold to Taylor & Francis in 2016 and merged with ...
. . pp. 290–322.


Further reading

* Wysocki, Gerd (1982, in German).
Zwangsarbeit im Stahlkonzern: Salzgitter und die Reichswerke "Hermann Göring," 1937-1945
'. Magni-Buchladen. . The history and significance of this study is reviewed by Neumann, pp. 31–32.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reichswerke Hermann Goring Economy of Nazi Germany Conglomerate companies established in 1937 Conglomerate companies disestablished in 1945 Nazi Party organizations Mining companies of Germany Steel companies of Germany Hermann Göring Non-renewable resource companies established in 1937 Manufacturing companies established in 1937 Manufacturing companies based in Berlin 1937 establishments in Germany Conglomerate companies of Germany