Vítkovice Mining and Iron Corporation () was an iron mill in

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

, Vítkovice,

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

founded by Salomon Meyer von Rothschild's heirs in 1873, it was the largest iron and steel works in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

History

The Vitkovice metallurgic plant was created in 1828 by Rudolf Habsburg (Archbishop of

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

). In 1835, the plant was leased to a consortium of Viennese bankers, among them Salomon Mayer Rothschild. Under the Rothschild's leadership, two coke blast furnaces were added to the operations, and ore and coal mines were acquired. The Rothschilds saw the development of the

Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway The Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway (; ; ) was a railway company during the time of the Austrian Empire. Its main line was intended to connect Vienna with the salt mines in Bochnia near Kraków. The name is still used today in referring to a ...

as an opportunity to develop metallurgic activities in the region. Salomon Mayer von Rothschild finally acquired Vitkovice in 1843. In the next forty years, Vitkovice's market share grew sixfold. The Vítkovice ironworks site was the first in the country to be modernized with gas lights. The economic crisis of 1873 sparked many layoffs and led the Rothschilds to invite the Gutmann brothers (Wilhelm and David) in the company's ownership. The company became the Vítkovická mining and metallurgical mining company, and gradually fell under the control of the Gutmann brothers. Under the direction of Paul Kupelwieser, the company built the Nové Vítkovice project, a factory town in Ostrava, and engaged in many progressive social reforms. Kupelwieser left Vitkovice in 1893. In 1937, the company shares were transferred to a company named the Alliance Assurance Co., Ltd a forerunner of the

RSA Insurance Group RSA Insurance Group Limited ( trading as RSA, formerly RSA Insurance Group plc and Royal and Sun Alliance) is a British multinational general insurance company headquartered in London, England. RSA has major operations in the United Kingdom, Ire ...

, and in which the London House of Rothschild still had a controlling interest.''The House of Rothschild (Vol. 2): The World's Banker: 1849–1999'', Niall Ferguson (2000). During 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 ...

, Louis Nathaniel de Rothschild was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, 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 F ...

during an attempted escape and was kept as a hostage for two years, until the London-based holding agreed to sell its Vitkovice shares to the German government for the discounted price of 2.9 million pounds. In May 1939 Baron Rothschild was released and the Vitkovice Works eventually became part of the

Reichswerke Hermann Göring Reichswerke Hermann Göring ("Hermann Göring Reich Works") was an industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate in Nazi Germany from 1937 until 1945. It was established to extract and process domestic iron ores from Salzgitter that were deemed ...

. After

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 ...

they were nationalized as the Vítkovické železárny Klement Gottwald n.p. (VŽKG) by the Czechoslovak state.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitkovice Mining and Iron Corporation * Companies of Czechoslovakia 1873 establishments in Austria-Hungary Manufacturing companies established in 1873