Anton Piëch (; 21 September 1894 – 29 August 1952) was an Austrian-German lawyer and the
son-in-law of
Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was a German automotive engineering, automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche, Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first Petrol engine, gasoline–Electric motor, el ...
. He headed Volkswagenwerk GmbH between 1941 and 1945, which produced the
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...
vehicles (''
KdF-Wagen'') at the factory in
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin.
Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
Biography
Piëch was born 21 September 1894 in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, the son of lawyer Anton Paul Piëch. He studied at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
and received his doctorate of
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...
in 1922. He established himself as a lawyer in his hometown, where his clients included several
Austrian Nazis, among others. At the end of the 1920s, he defended
Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was a German automotive engineering, automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche, Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first Petrol engine, gasoline–Electric motor, el ...
in litigation against
Daimler-Benz
Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a Germany, German Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is o ...
over an employment contract.
[ Mommsen, Grieger (1996), p. 916.] In 1928, Piëch married
Louise Porsche, the daughter of Ferdinand.
Together they had three sons, Ernst (born 1929),
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...
(1937–2019), and Hans-Michel (born 1942), and a daughter, Louise Daxer-Piëch (1932–2006).
Piëch had a 15% share in the founding of the
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...
company in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
on 25 April 1931. In the
Kommanditgesellschaft
A (abbreviated KG, ; from + ) is the German name for a limited partnership business entity and is used in German, Belgian, Dutch, Austrian, and some other European legal systems. In Japan, it is called a '' gōshi gaisha''. Its name derives ...
founded in 1937 (Porsche KG), his share was 10%. Piëch represented the company in legal and contractual matters.
In May 1933, Piëch became a member of the then-illegal
Austrian Nazi Party. In July 1937, months before the ''
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...
'', he joined the
NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...
of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. He joined the
SS in 1944.
In June 1941, Piëch took over as plant manager at the plant where
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...
were produced in
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin.
Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...
. He succeeded Otto Dyckhoff as one of the managers of Volkswagenwerk GmbH, along with
Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was a German automotive engineering, automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche, Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first Petrol engine, gasoline–Electric motor, el ...
and
Bodo Lafferentz, which decades later would become the current
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxon ...
.
As Ferdinand Porsche's right-hand man, Piëch became involved in the adaptation of the
Wolfsburg plant for the manufacture of weapons, like the
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...
. Under his leadership, 20,000 forced laborers from
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, the
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
and the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
worked in the plant, as well as German political prisoners, and from 1942 to 1945,
Arbeitsdorf Arbeitsdorf ("work-village") was a Nazi concentration camp in Wolfsburg, Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben 1942.
History and the purpose of the camp
In 1936, a Czech engineer by the name of Ferdinand Porsche designed a prototype of a car that ...
concentration camp prisoners. In total, they accounted for about two-thirds of the work force of the plant during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. According to some incomplete lists, some 500
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
, deportees, and concentration camp prisoners died in Wolfsburg. In
Rühen, near the factory, an orphanage for babies of the
forced laborers was built. At least 350 children died there, being separated from their mothers two weeks after birth so that they could return to work.
Piëch was also a
factory leader of four companies of the ''
Volkssturm
The (, ) was a ''levée en masse'' national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was set up by the Nazi Party on the orders of Adolf Hitler and established on 25 September 1944. It was staffed by conscri ...
'', whose soldiers mostly kept in some kind of relationship with the factory. On 10 April 1945 he ordered his troops to withdraw towards the
Elbe
The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...
. Under the pretext of relocating the address of Volkswagenwerk GmbH to a safe place, he moved 10 million
Reichsmark
The (; sign: ℛ︁ℳ︁; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, and in the American, British and French occupied zones of Germany, until 20 June 1948. The Reichsmark was then replace ...
from
Nejdek to
Zell am See
Zell am See is the administrative capital of the Zell am See District in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Located in the Kitzbühel Alps, the town is an important tourist destination due to its Ski resort, ski resorts and shorel ...
, where his family owned a farm. The money was supposed to be used for the relocation of a factory from Nejdek to
Allgäu
The Allgäu (Standard ) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the Alps. The main rivers flo ...
, but this never came to happen, and no funds ended up financing
Porsche KG. After the war, due to the absence of a notice of dismissal, Piëch continued to serve as chief executive of Volkswagenwerk GmbH until November 1945. He used these final months to pay off bills of Porsche KG.
At the request of the French Minister of Justice
Pierre-Henri Teitgen, Piëch was arrested in late 1945 in
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...
together with
Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was a German automotive engineering, automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche, Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first Petrol engine, gasoline–Electric motor, el ...
and
Ferry Porsche
Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche (19 September 1909 – 27 March 1998), mainly known as Ferry Porsche, was an Austrian-German technical automobile designer and automaker-entrepreneur. He operated Porsche AG in Stuttgart, Germany. His fath ...
, following an invitation from French Minister of Industrial Production
Marcel Paul. They were accused of forcibly transferring French workers to Wolfsburg, and organizing the deportation of executives of
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...
to
Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe.
The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
during the German occupation of France. They were also held responsible for dismantling and moving Peugeot equipment and tools to the VW factory. Piëch and Ferdinand Porsche spent 22 months in French prisons. Ferdinand Porsche was ultimately absolved of responsibility by testimony made in court by many witnesses.
On 17 September 1948 in
Bad Reichenhall, Piëch signed the agreement between Volkswagenwerk GmbH (under the leadership of new CEO
Heinrich Nordhoff) and Porsche KG. As a result of the new treaty, Porsche was put in charge of the development activity of Volkswagen, as it occurred to date. Through license fees and representation rights paid by VW, financial foundation was laid for the new plant of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG.
[ Mommsen, Grieger (1996), p. 938.]
In 1950, Piëch was manager of the Porsche Konstruktionen-GmbH in
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
, which was founded on 1 April 1947 in
Gmünd in Kärnten, and of the "Volkswagen General Agency" in Austria, located in Salzburg, which later would become the Porsche Holding, currently the majority shareholder of
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxon ...
.
On 29 August 1952, Anton Piëch died unexpectedly in
Klagenfurt. His wife,
Louise, became the director of business in Austria. He is buried in
Zell am See
Zell am See is the administrative capital of the Zell am See District in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Located in the Kitzbühel Alps, the town is an important tourist destination due to its Ski resort, ski resorts and shorel ...
.
See also
*
Porsche family
References
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piech, Anton
1894 births
1952 deaths
Businesspeople from Vienna
20th-century Austrian lawyers
Austrian Nazis
Lawyers in the Nazi Party
Volkswagen Group people
Porsche family
SS personnel
University of Vienna alumni
Porsche people
Automotive businesspeople
Volkssturm personnel