. NMT06-T0181
Volume VI · Page 181
| taken over into the direct ownership of the
Charlottenhuette. In 1921 the Upper Silesian base was extended and strengthened
by the acquisition of the majority of shares of the "Kattowitzer A.G However,
already in the following year a serious menace arose: Bismarckhuette and
Kattowitz [Katowice] were lost due to the cession of eastern Upper Silesia to
Poland. The position which was still in the stage of construction was again in
doubt, and new deliberations and security measures were called for. Reflections
about a new amalgamation led to a participation in the Upper Silesian Iron
Industry A.G. In the meantime the big Montan [mining industry] concerns of the west started to get things moving. Hugo Stinnes and the Rhein-Elbe-Union step to the foreground. Connections are formed based on mutual interests, especially in the sphere of the supply of raw material (scrap metal, coal) and the procurement of semimanufactured goods, which lead to closer cooperation also in more important questions. The Charlottenhuette became a factor whose influence was decidedly felt. This influence also brings Flick together with men of the Mitteldeutsche Stahlindustrie, who formed a none-too-happy union by combining, first with the "Linke-Hofmann" and later with the "Lauchhammer Werke." The situation demands a regrouping of forces, which is accomplished in the course of a long drawn out process, which can be described here in detail. The over-all picture shows, by way of the Upper Silesian position, a participation of the Charlottenhuette in the "Rhein-Elbe-Union." At the same time the Charlottenhuette attains a strong influence upon the "Linke-Hofmann-Lauchhammer" companies by the inclusion of the Upper Silesian Iron Industry, A.G. The center of gravity was thus changed which caused Flick in 1923 to move his residence to Berlin. The stabilization of the mark brought about a period of serious crises for the heavy industry which did not leave the "Linke-Hofmann-Lauchammer" companies unaffected. Flick devoted his whole strength to preserve these companies, and it is only due to his superior knowledge and iron will that these difficulties were surmounted. The crisis caused the perception to grow within the German steel industry that the forces should be joined more closely. Plans for new amalgamations originate. In the East the "Oberschlesischen Huettenwerke" are formed, in which the Charlottenhuette invests its interests which had remained there. In the lest, the "Rhein-Elbe-Union" becomes the starting point of a great combination, which takes concrete shape in the form of the "Vereinigte Stahlwerke" [United Steel Works]. Flick takes a decisive part in this new formation. The Charlottenhuette brings into the Vereinigte Stahlwerke not only its works in the Siegerland but also its participation in the Linke-Hofmann-Lauch- […hammer] |
