A short history on Friedrich Krupp AG

Friedrich Krupp AG was founded over 200 years ago in Essen, 1811. Friedrich Krupp himself only lived 15 more years before his death and, after his death, his two sons and wife ran the company; Alfred Krupp took over in 1948 and, over his career, became known as 'the Cannon King' and even 'Alfred the Great'. At the time of his death, Krupp had broken through to the Top 5 private companies in the German Empire, which had been growing progressively more powerful.

When the first World War began, Krupp had become a major arms supplier for all of Europe and, despite losing clientele due to the war, still produced most of the Empire's artillery.

Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach had taken control of the company after marrying Bertha Krupp in the year 1906. Despite the Treaty of Versailles, Krupp continued manufcaturing weapons and war material for the German Empire. These ranged from artillery to submarines to tanks and often used foreign subsidaries to do so.

Though he claimed to be a staunch monarchist, his loyalty was often given to those with the most power. As such he initially opposed the Nazi party until Adolf Hitler's rise to chancellor. In a secret meeting between Hitler and other major industrialists, Gustav contributed 1 million reichsmark to the party.

During the beginning of WW2 Gustav suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed. His control over the company faltered as the war went on until, eventually, he formally resigned and handed the reins of the company over to his son, Alfred Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach.

After the war, Alfred was tried during the Nuremburg trials and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. However his crimes were pardoned in short order. In the year 1999, Friedrich Krupp AG had been formally merged with Thysen and has continued to economically thrive.