History

In February 1873 Alfred Krupp notes: “The purpose of work should be the common welfare (…).” His great-grandson Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach refers to this interlinking of entrepreneurial activity with responsibility to society when, on 1 April 1967, he announces to persons celebrating the company anniversary his long-standing and carefully prepared decision to transform, via a foundation, the Krupp company into a corporation. The Foundation is intended to be an expression of the Krupp tradition of commitment to the public interest.

In September 1966, Alfried Krupp draws up his will and establishes an incorporated charitable foundation under civil law which he appoints as the sole heir to his complete private fortune and company assets. The will comes into force upon his death on 30 July 1967. The Krupp company is transformed into the “Fried. Krupp GmbH” corporation with all shares being held by the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation. The Foundation begins its activity on 1 January 1968.

According to the statute the Foundation serves “directly charitable purposes” via the funds it receives. The Foundation is today the largest single shareholder of thyssenkrupp AG.

Berthold Beitz

A key figure in the work of the Foundation was Berthold Beitz, born in 1913 in Western Pomerania. Following the war, he initially made a career in the insurance industry in Hamburg until Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach brought him to Essen in November 1953 and gave him a post as his personal chief representative. Beitz was appointed first executor of the will upon the death of Alfried Krupp on 30 July 1967. He completed the transfer of Krupp’s assets to the non-profit Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation as stipulated in the will, and until his death on 30 July 2013 was Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Among his numerous awards, pre-eminent is the honour as “Righteous Among the Nations” from the Yad Vashem Remembrance Center in Israel, which he received together with his wife Else Beitz for saving hundreds of Jewish people during World War II in Boryslaw, Poland.

History of the Foundation in pictures

The following sequence of images provides an overview of special events at the Krupp Foundation.