Representative of Germany's industry was the steel giant Krupp, whose first factory was built in Essen.

The leading firm was " Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp ," run by the Krupp family.

The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century.

In the 20th century the company was headed by Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach ( 1870 – 1950 ), who assumed the surname of Krupp when he married the Krupp heiress, Bertha Krupp.

After Germany's defeat, Gustav was senile and incapable of standing trial, and the Nuremberg Military Tribunal convicted Alfried as a war criminal in the Krupp Trial for " plunder " and for his company's use of slave labor.

Friedrich spent a significant amount of time and money in the small, waterwheel-powered facility, neglecting other Krupp business, but in 1816 he was able to produce smelted steel.

Alfred Krupp ( born Alfried Felix Alwyn Krupp ), son of Friedrich Carl, was born in Essen in 1812.

Krupp was able to sell, alternately, improved artillery and improved steel shielding to countries from Russia to Chile to Siam.

Krupp ’ s paternalist strategy was adoped by Bismarck as government policy, as a preventive against the Social Democratics.

Krupp was also held in high esteem by the kaiser, who dismissed Julius von Verdy du Vernois and his successor Hans von Kaltenborn for rejecting Krupp's design of the C-96 field gun, quipping, “ I ’ ve canned three War Ministers because of Krupp, and still they don ’ t catch on !”

His wife Bertha ( not to be confused with their granddaughter ), was unwilling to remain in polluted Essen in Villa Hügel, the ungainly but fireproof castle which Krupp designed.

In 1890 Krupp developed nickel steel, which was hard enough to allow thin battleship armor and cannon.

Kaiser Wilhelm II felt it was unthinkable for the Krupp firm to be run by a woman.

By imperial proclamation at the wedding, Gustav was given the additional surname " Krupp ," which was to be inherited by primogeniture along with the company.

In 1913 Germany jailed a number of military officers for selling secrets to Krupp, in what was known as the “ Kornwalzer scandal .” Gustav was not himself penalized and fired only a single director, Otto Eccius.

After Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914, Krupp bought his villa Blühnbach, in Werfen in the Austrian Alps, and which was a former residence of the Archbishops of Salzburg.

A three-class franchise system was also used for local elections in parts of Prussia, one result of which was that the industrialist Alfred Krupp was the only person able to vote for the electors in the first class in Essen.

The industrial disruption of World War II, however, overloaded the German locomotive builders with domestic production demands and Krupp was only able to produce ten of these new BDZ Class 36 tank locomotives in 1943, works numbers 2272 to 2281.

This activity became the basis for the charge of “ plunder ” at the war crimes trial of Krupp executives after the war.

The Krupp family ( see pronunciation ), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments.

An assortment of naval guns and field artillery pieces from the Krupp works in Essen, Germany.

In 1943, by a special order from Hitler, the company reverted to a sole-proprietorship, with Gustav and Bertha's eldest son Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach ( 1907 – 67 ) as proprietor.

After he became regent in 1859, Prussia bought its first 312 steel cannon from Krupp, which became the main arms manufacturer for the Prussian military.

Krupp demanded a loyalty oath, required workers to obtain written permission from their foremen when they needed to use the toilet, and issued proclamations telling his workers not to concern themselves with national politics.

Krupp ’ s factory in Essen was occupied, and independent republics were declared, but the German Reichswehr invaded from Westphalia and quickly restored order.

As part of Hitler ’ s secret rearmament program, Krupp expanded from 35, 000 to 112, 000 employees.

As another war crime, Krupp used slave labor, both POWs and civilians from occupied countries, and Krupp representatives were sent to concentration camps to select laborers.

Krupp Industries employed workers conscripted by the Nazi regime from across Europe.

On 16 June 2009, the Pave the Way Foundation announced that it would release of 2, 300 pages of documents in Avellino, Italy, dating from 1940 to 1945, which the organization claims show that Pius XII " worked diligently to save Jews from Nazi tyranny "; the organization's founder, Krupp has accused historians of harboring " private agendas " and having " let down " the public.

However it was discovered that Prussia had recently installed formidable defences around the major North German ports, including coastal artillery batteries consisting of Krupp heavy artillery that could hit French ships from a distance of.

Ford refused to buy the name for about US $ 10, 000 from Krupp at the time.

The name of the post office was changed from Krupp to Marlin during World War I in order to avoid negative associations with a large, well-known munitions plant in Germany.

Germany's high-altitude needs were originally going to be filled by a 75 mm gun from Krupp, designed in collaboration with their Swedish counterpart Bofors, but the specifications were later amended to require much higher performance.

Historically linked to the centuries-old Krupp family iron works, Essen has been one of Germany's most important coal and steel centres until the 1970s and attracted workers from all over the country ; it was the 5th-largest city in Germany between 1929 and 1988, peaking at over 730, 000 inhabitants in 1962.

There were even instances ( like the factory of Krupp Factories or the ship factory of Hamburg ) where the workers drove out communist agitators from the workplace with clubs.

Both prototype series used the same turret design from Krupp ; the main differences were in the hull, transmission, suspension and automotive features.

Ironically, it is revealed in the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman that they perform fairly well overall in school, as their grades range from B to C. They are also always getting in trouble by Mr Krupp.

Mr. Krupp has a very deep hatred of children, and also tries to protect Jerome Horwitz Elementary from George and Harold's antics.

Their Principal, Mr. Krupp, had recorded a video of George and Harold preparing there pranks and going to show the football team the video due to them wondering whose responsible for the disaster from the game, that made George and Harold guilty and horrified.

To avoid Mr. Krupp's tasks, George buys a 3-D Hypno-Ring ( which they receive after 4 – 6 weeks of back-breaking labor ) from the Li ' l Wiseguy Company in Walla-Walla, Washington, so they can get Mr. Krupp to hand over the incriminating video.

As part of a Navy competition, prototypes for a prefabricated " heavy landing bridge " or jetty ( similar in function to later Allied Mulberry Harbours ) were designed and built by Krupp Stahlbau and Dortmunder Union and successfully overwintered in the North Sea in 1941-42.

Following the Allied victory, plans to prosecute Gustav Krupp as a war criminal at the 1945 Nuremberg Trials were dropped because by then he was bedridden and senile.

The planned eighteen NSB Class 49 locomotives never materialised, however, since those under construction at the Krupp Works in Essen, Germany, were damaged so severely by Allied bombing in October 1943 that they were never completed.