Under the influence of the Stinnes Group (1921-1933)

By the beginning of the 1920s HOCHTIEF had developed from its modest origins in Frankfurt into an established construction corporation, but it still could not be compared with the huge companies in heavy industry in terms of its balance sheet total, for instance, or the numbers it employed. The names of the industrialists that ran these companies are still very well known today,

such as Emil Kirdorf (1847-1938) or August Thyssen (1842-1929). One outstanding member of this group was Hugo Stinnes (1897-1924), who even as a very young man had built up a large and successful corporation.

Head office moves to Essen in 1922

The Stinnes group included mining companies, shipping lines and

engineering companies. Together with Thyssen, Hugo Stinnes held the majority of the shares in RWE, then as now a major utility in the Ruhr region around Essen. For his construction projects he finally looked for a construction company that he could integrate into his concern, and he was supported in this project by his employee, Albert V�gler (1877-1945), whose brother Eugen managed the HOCHTIEF branch in Essen.

Eugen V�gler (1884-1956) negotiated a contract with the Stinnes group, signed on February 10th, 1921, to create a "community of interest" under which all Stinnes construction projects were to be carried out by HOCHTIEF. The company's head office was transferred to Essen in 1922 as part of the integration into the Stinnes Group. Despite all these changes, the directors of HOCHTIEF did everything they could to ensure continuity. The company had officially taken the name of HOCHTIEF in 1923, or to give it is full value, "HOCHTIEF Aktiengesellschaft f�r Hoch- und Tiefbauten vorm. Gebr�der Helfmann".

Construction materials to France

It emerged soon after this that Stinnes' plans for HOCHTIEF went far beyond a "normal" business relationship. The starting-off point for his ideas was a reconstruction program, finalized on March 15th, 1922, under which German money and physical assets were to be sent to the French industry as part of the post-war reparations. Stinnes was quick to realize the business possibilities. On August 14th, 1922, he signed an agreement with the French industrialist Guy Louis Jean de Lubersac (1878-1932), who represented the French side, on the delivery of goods that mainly provided for shipments of construction materials to France and counted as part of the reparations. HOCHTIEF was to coordinate these deliveries and charge a fee for the work.

HOCHTIEF found a highly lucrative business beckoning, but it did not come about because French troops occupied the Ruhr industrial area; this was the French government's reaction to the general delays in the payment of post-war reparations.

HOCHTIEF overcomes the Stinnes crisis

The French military occupation of the Ruhr shattered the hopes that the HOCHTIEF managers had had of the connection with Stinnes. The situation turned dangerous for HOCHTIEF when the Stinnes concern collapsed after the death of Hugo Stinnes. HOCHTIEF also teetered towards insolvency,

but with the help of the banks with which it had collaborated closely ever since it had become an Aktiengesellschaft, it managed to overcome this crisis as well. RWE and a major electrical engineering company, AEG, became the main shareholders with 30 and 13 percent respectively. The situation at HOCHTIEF calmed down again. There was a change at the top in 1927 when Eugen V�gler replaced Hans Weidmann as Chief Executive Officer.

Numerous major projects are completed

Once the 1923 hyperinflation in Germany had been halted, HOCHTIEF's business started to develop positively again. Amongst its major projects were the gymnasium and sports hall of the stadium in Frankfurt am Main (1919-1926);

a big power station in Klingenberg, a district of Berlin (1926-1927); the Westfalenhaus in Dortmund (1928-1929); and new buildings for the Zollverein colliery in Essen (1929-1931).

HOCHTIEF was also involved in major reservoir and waterways projects such as the Schluchsee dam in the southern Black Forest (1929-1931). One particular technical challenge was the construction of a viaduct over the Ammer River near Echelsbach in Bavaria (1928-1929). Nearly all these orders were follow-up business; HOCHTIEF was apparently able to benefit from good business relationships.

HOCHTIEF gains a foothold abroad

Mainly, however, in the 1930s HOCHTIEF was busy gaining a foothold in other countries. Amongst its major foreign projects were a cellulose factory in Finland, the Moselle Canal near Metz in eastern France and its work on the Albert Canal between Li�ge and Antwerp (in Belgium) between 1930 and 1934.

These projects were carried out in a number of phases and ensured employment for HOCHTIEF for many years at a time. Other contracts, of a kind that only appear once each but are none the less welcome for that, were the construction of a road bridge over the Maritza River near Philoppopel in Bulgaria (1929-1931) and of a coal bunker in Lutterade, in Holland (1931). Despite a universally poor economic situation, HOCHTIEF's business went relatively well. Accordingly, this extract appeared in the Annual Report published in 1932:

"As a result of the expansion of our foreign interests mentioned in our Annual Report last year and the level of orders received earlier from within Germany, we can nevertheless present satisfactory results to our shareholders."

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