Friedrich Alfred Krupp
Friedrich Alfred Krupp (c1854-1902)
Son of Alfred Krupp and Grandson of Frederick Krupp.
1902 Obituary [1]
His EXCELLENCY FRIEDRICH ALFRED KRUPP died at Villa Hiegel, near Essen, on November 22, 1902, in his forty-ninth year.
He was born on February 17, 1854, and being of a delicate constitution, he as a youth made long journeys to strengthen his health, subsequently spending his winters abroad in Egypt, and of recent years in the island of Capri.
When his father's death, in 1887, placed him at the head of the establishment, he found himself surrounded by a board of directors, men of conspicuous ability, who helped him efficiently in ruling the vast army of workmen and the little state of now 150,000 people in- directly dependent upon the firm. The extraordinary development of his works since 1887, the elaborate arrangements made for the welfare of his officials and workmen and for their children, and his unlimited benevolence are matters of common knowledge.
He was a life member of the Prussian Upper House and a member of the Imperial Diet from 1893 to 1898. Highly sensitive, reserved, and modest, he was anxious to avoid publicity, and successfully escaped the notice of the Press until his ardent support of the Imperial naval schemes exposed him to unscrupulous attacks from the Socialist party. Like his father, he refused the patent of nobility. He was, however, the recipient of numerous decorations, and as a Privy Councillor was entitled to the predicate of Excellency. He married in 1882 Baroness von Ende and leaves two daughters.
On receipt of the news of Krupp's death, the German Emperor addressed the following telegram to the directorate of the firm of Krupp at Essen:— "The news of the unexpected death of your chief has been a great shock to me. Providence placed Geheimrath Krupp at the head of an enterprise which has achieved a universal significance far beyond the frontiers of the Fatherland. These works, inherited by him from that man of genius, his father, he regarded it as the business of his life not only to maintain but extend in accordance with their reputation throughout the world. His name is most intimately associated with the development of the iron industry and of the whole domain of armaments, including modern fortifications as well as naval construction. In his provisions for the well-being of those in his employment he was unsurpassed, and was a pattern to all those, to whom the departed was most loyally devoted in patriotic sentiment, share with the managing officials of his works and with the thousands of his workmen the keenest sense of his loss.— WILLIAM, I.R."
The funeral was held at Essen, and was attended by the Emperor in person. A memorial meeting, organised by the ironmasters and industrial leaders of Rhineland, Westphalia, was held at Dusseldorf on December 13.
The Society of German Ironmasters, of which he was an honorary member, received from bins as a gift their house in Dusseldorf. He was elected a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1891, and was awarded the Bessemer Gold Medal in 1902. His reception of the Institute at the Essen works is reported upon in this volume, and the cordial hospitality with which he entertained the members in his magnificent mansion and domain of Villa Hugel will not soon be forgotten by those who were privileged to be among the 150 members invited.
"...death was announced on the morning of the 23rd inst. of Herr F . A. Krupp, which took place at the Villa Hugel, near Essen, on the previous day, under peculiar circumstances.
He was only in his 49th year, and, although never a strong
man, his death, said to be caused by apoplexy, was entirely
unexpected, and was it is said largely due to an attack made
on him by the gutter Press of Berlin, because his workmen
refused to follow the socialist lead.
He must in no way be confounded with his father, Alfred Krupp, who was really the Krupp, the man with a world-wide reputation. Alfred Krupp's father, the grandfather of F. A. Krupp, began business...[More]
1902 Obituary [4]