Flick family
Encyclopedia
The Flick family is a wealthy German
industrial and political dynasty, heir to an industrial empire that formerly embraced holding in companies involved in coal
, steel
and a minority holding in Daimler AG. The Flick family is one of the richest industrial families worldwide.
Friedrich Flick (July 10, 1883 in Ernsdorf
- July 20, 1972 in Konstanz
) was the founder of the dynasty, establishing a major industrial conglomerate during the Weimar Republic
who was one of the world's wealthiest people by the time of his death in 1972. He left his empire to his son Friedrich Karl Flick
(1927–2006).
During the Second World War Flick became extremely wealthy by using 48,000 slave labourers from Germany's concentration camps in his various industrial enterprises. It is estimated that 80 per cent of these workers died as a result of the way they were treated during the war. Flick was found guilty of war crimes at Nuremberg in 1947 and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
By 1950 the United States was involved in fighting the Cold War. In June of that year, North Korean troops invaded South Korea. It was believed that German steel was needed for armaments for the Korean War and in October, John J. McCloy
, the high commissioner in American occupied Germany, lifted the 11 million ton limitation on German steel production. McCloy also began pardoning German industrialists who had been convicted at Nuremberg. This included Fritz Ter Meer, the senior executive of I. G. Farben, the company that produced Zyklon B poison for the gas chambers. He was also Hitler's Commissioner of for Armament and War Production for the chemical industry during the war.
McCloy was also concerned about the increasing power of the left-wing, anti-rearmament, Social Democratic Party (SDP). The popularity of the conservative government led by Konrad Adenauer was in decline and a public opinion poll in 1950 showed it only had 24% of the vote, while support for the SDP had risen to 40%. On 5th December, 1950, Adenauer wrote McCloy a letter urging clemency for Krupp. Hermann Abs, one of Hitler's personal bankers, who surprisingly was never tried as a war criminal at Nuremberg, also began campaigning for the release of German industrialists in prison.
In January, 1951, John J. McCloy announced that Alfried Krupp and eight members of his board of directors who had been convicted with him, were to be released. His property, valued at around 45 million, and his numerous companies were also restored to him. Flick was also released.
The 1983 Flick Affair
revealed that German politicians had been bribed to allow the Flick family to reduce its tax liabilities, and after becoming an Austria
n citizen to further reduce his tax obligations, in 1985 Friedrich Karl Flick sold most of his industrial holdings to Deutsche Bank
for $2.5 billion (£1.4 billion), retiring until his 2006 death.
On Thursday November 20, 2008, it was reported that his body was stolen from a cemetery in Veldel, Austria.
A German High School in Friedrich Flick's hometown was called the "Friedrich-Flick-Gymnasium" until September 2008. The contribution from Flick had made it possible to build this school in 1969. The Donatella Flick Conducting Competition
is named for Donatella Flick
.
Children of Friedrich Flick:
Other Flick family members:
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
industrial and political dynasty, heir to an industrial empire that formerly embraced holding in companies involved in coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
and a minority holding in Daimler AG. The Flick family is one of the richest industrial families worldwide.
Friedrich Flick (July 10, 1883 in Ernsdorf
Kreuztal
Kreuztal is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Location:Kreuztal is a town in the low mountains of the northern Siegerland and lies at the western edge of the Rothaargebirge about 10 km north of Siegen....
- July 20, 1972 in Konstanz
Konstanz
Konstanz is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.-Location:...
) was the founder of the dynasty, establishing a major industrial conglomerate during the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
who was one of the world's wealthiest people by the time of his death in 1972. He left his empire to his son Friedrich Karl Flick
Friedrich Karl Flick
Friedrich Karl Flick was a German-Austrian industrialist and billionaire....
(1927–2006).
Nazi Party membership, war crimes and pardoning
In 1933 Flick became a leading financial supporter of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) and over the next ten years donated over seven million marks to the party. A close friend of Heinrich Himmler, Flick also gave the Schutz Staffeinel (SS) 10,000 marks a year.During the Second World War Flick became extremely wealthy by using 48,000 slave labourers from Germany's concentration camps in his various industrial enterprises. It is estimated that 80 per cent of these workers died as a result of the way they were treated during the war. Flick was found guilty of war crimes at Nuremberg in 1947 and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
By 1950 the United States was involved in fighting the Cold War. In June of that year, North Korean troops invaded South Korea. It was believed that German steel was needed for armaments for the Korean War and in October, John J. McCloy
John J. McCloy
John Jay McCloy was a lawyer and banker who served as Assistant Secretary of War during World War II, president of the World Bank and U.S. High Commissioner for Germany...
, the high commissioner in American occupied Germany, lifted the 11 million ton limitation on German steel production. McCloy also began pardoning German industrialists who had been convicted at Nuremberg. This included Fritz Ter Meer, the senior executive of I. G. Farben, the company that produced Zyklon B poison for the gas chambers. He was also Hitler's Commissioner of for Armament and War Production for the chemical industry during the war.
McCloy was also concerned about the increasing power of the left-wing, anti-rearmament, Social Democratic Party (SDP). The popularity of the conservative government led by Konrad Adenauer was in decline and a public opinion poll in 1950 showed it only had 24% of the vote, while support for the SDP had risen to 40%. On 5th December, 1950, Adenauer wrote McCloy a letter urging clemency for Krupp. Hermann Abs, one of Hitler's personal bankers, who surprisingly was never tried as a war criminal at Nuremberg, also began campaigning for the release of German industrialists in prison.
In January, 1951, John J. McCloy announced that Alfried Krupp and eight members of his board of directors who had been convicted with him, were to be released. His property, valued at around 45 million, and his numerous companies were also restored to him. Flick was also released.
The 1983 Flick Affair
Flick Affair
The Flick Affair was a German political scandal of the early 1980s relating to political contributions by the Flick company, a major German conglomerate, to various political parties "for the cultivation of the political landscape"...
revealed that German politicians had been bribed to allow the Flick family to reduce its tax liabilities, and after becoming an Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n citizen to further reduce his tax obligations, in 1985 Friedrich Karl Flick sold most of his industrial holdings to Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...
for $2.5 billion (£1.4 billion), retiring until his 2006 death.
On Thursday November 20, 2008, it was reported that his body was stolen from a cemetery in Veldel, Austria.
A German High School in Friedrich Flick's hometown was called the "Friedrich-Flick-Gymnasium" until September 2008. The contribution from Flick had made it possible to build this school in 1969. The Donatella Flick Conducting Competition
Donatella Flick Conducting Competition
The Donatella Flick Conducting Competition is an international music competition for young conductors, held biennially in London.-History:The Donatella Flick Conducting Competetition is named after the philanthropist Donatella Flick, who founded the competition in 1990 to help young conductors to...
is named for Donatella Flick
Donatella Flick
Princess Donatella Flick is a philanthropist, former wife of Gert Rudolph Flick of the wealthy German industrialist Flick family....
.
Notable members of the Flick family
- Friedrich Flick (10 July 1883 - 20 July 1972), industrialist
Children of Friedrich Flick:
- Otto-Ernst FlickOtto-Ernst FlickOtto-Ernst Flick was the oldest of three sons born to Marie and Friedrich Flick in 1916 in Germany. He entered the Friedrich Flick Industry Holding Company in 1953, but had a fall-out with his father in about 1960. Otto-Ernst took his father to court to secure his inheritance, and after a...
(1916–74), his children :- Dagmar Gräfin (countess) Vitzthum von Eckstaedt, now Ottmann
- Gert Rudolph Flick "Muck Flick" (married and divorced to Princess Donatella Missikoff of Ossetia)
- Friedrich Christian Flick "Mick Flick" (September 19, 1944) :
- Friedrich-Alexander (March 9, 1986) (with Maya Gräfin von Schönburg-Glauchau)
- Maria-Pilar (August 2, 1988) (with Maya Gräfin von Schönburg-Glauchau)
- Ernst-Moritz (August 27, 1989) (with Maya Gräfin von Schönburg-Glauchau)
- Rudolf Flick (born 1919, died during WW II)
- Friedrich Karl FlickFriedrich Karl FlickFriedrich Karl Flick was a German-Austrian industrialist and billionaire....
(February 3, 1927 - October 5, 2006)- industrialist, involved in a German political scandal; married three times (no children with first wife) :- Alexandra (with Ursula Kloiber née Reuther)
- Elisabeth Anna (December 24, 1973) (with Ursula Kloiber née Reuther) m. Prince Wilhelm Alexander von Auersperg-Breunner (April 23, 1968)
- Victoria-Katharina (with Ingrid Ragger)
- Karl-Friedrich (with Ingrid Ragger)
Other Flick family members:
- Donatella FlickDonatella FlickPrincess Donatella Flick is a philanthropist, former wife of Gert Rudolph Flick of the wealthy German industrialist Flick family....
, born Princess Donatella Missikoff - socialite and philanthropist, former wife of Gert Rudolph Flick. - Maria (Maya) Flick, born Gräfin (countess) von Schönburg-Glauchau - daughter of Joachim, Count von Schönburg-GlauchauJoachim, Count von Schönburg-GlauchauJoachim, Count von Schönburg-Glauchau was the head of the noble house of Schönburg. Dispossessed and expelled from his homeland in 1945, he and his family migrated to the Rhineland, where he was an author and journalist...
and sister of Gloria, Princess of Thurn and TaxisGloria, Princess of Thurn and TaxisGloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis is a princess, by marriage, of the German Thurn und Taxis House.-Biography:Gloria was born on 23 February 1960, the daughter of Joachim, Count...
.