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53-551: Kapfenbergs main employer is the steel manufacturer voestalpine . The town has a swimming complex, a football stadium ( Franz Fekete Stadium ) used by the club Kapfenberger SV , and an ice rink. The Kapfenberg Bulls is a team in the Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga , the highest professional basketball league in Austria. In 1970, Kapfenberg hosted the European Team Chess Championship , which

106-434: A company called Voest-Alpine Stahl AG. In 1990, Österreichische Industrieholding AG (Austrian Industry Holding AG) became Austrian Industries AG as it took the first steps toward privatisation. In 1993, three companies formed from Austrian Industries AG-- Voest-Alpine Technologie AG , and Voest-Alpine Stahl AG, and Böhler-Uddeholm . Privatisation began in 1995, when Voest-Alpine got listed on Vienna Stock Exchange . and

159-714: A halt on VÖEST program. The controversy spilled into the U. S. Senate, causing delays in Marshall Plan financing for VÖEST. VÖEST received its new slabbing mill but the new hot strip mill was delayed by the opposition of the Pentagon, which feared that VÖEST product would be sold to the Soviet bloc. The Pentagon removed their objections in January 1952, conforming to the consensus of other US agencies. The hot and cold strip mills were, at last, put into operation in 1953. By

212-739: A joint venture called VAE Nortrak North America, Inc. , which later added operations in the United States. The Birmingham, Alabama plant opened in 1992, followed by the Cheyenne, Wyoming plant in 1997, now the company's headquarters. As a result of two 2004 acquisitions, Nortrak has other U.S. facilities in Pueblo, Colorado ; Newton, Kansas and Chicago Heights, Illinois ; and Seattle , Washington . Roll Forming Corp., incorporated in 1947 and headquartered in Shelbyville, Kentucky ,

265-763: A large plant at Liezen in Styria which closed in the 1990s. Voestalpine is responsible for 10% of all Austrian CO 2 emissions , which makes it the biggest emitter in the country. The name of the company amalgamates its two principal components, the VÖEST (Vereinigte Österreichische Eisen und Stahlwerke) in Upper Austria , established through nationalization in July 1946, and the ÖAMG (Österreichische-Alpine Montangesellschaft) in Styria , established in 1881. The Alpine Montangesellschaft (English: Alpine Mining Society)

318-782: A practical knowledge of mining, he worked for a few months as a miner at the Wiethe colliery . Then, in 1889, he attended a course of instruction at the Bergakademie Berlin (in 1916 merged the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg (now Technische Universität Berlin )). In 1890, he inherited his father's coal mining and other financial enterprises. Gradually, from working in the coal industry, he purchased his own shipyard. He also began to purchase seagoing vessels as well as river steamers and barges,

371-748: A solid and powerful bloc of opinion in Germany in support of law and order and the promotion of the highest industrial and commercial efficiency . His newspaper purchases included the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung in Berlin , formerly the organ of Otto von Bismarck and then of all the succeeding German governments, the Münchener Neueste Nachrichten and the München-Augsburger Zeitung ,

424-633: A subject of a debate between the Department of State , which advocated nationalization , and the U. S. Army , represented by Mark W. Clark , who stood for privatization. The diplomats prevailed, and the Austrian government was allowed to nationalize the former German assets at will. The mills of Linz were nationalized in July 1946 as the VÖEST ( V ereinigte Ö sterreichische E isen und St ahlwerke, United Austrian Iron and Steelworks). VÖEST decided to dispose with three of its six blast furnaces . One

477-447: A year of his death. Parts of his empire continued as Stinnes AG (now DB Mobility Logistics ), Hugo Stinnes Schiffahrt and RWE , the second-largest energy supplier in Germany. In 1895, Hugo Stinnes married Cläre Wagenknecht; the couple had seven children: Edmund Hugo (1896–1980), Hugo Hermann (1897–1982), Clärenore (1901–1990), Otto (1903–1983), Hilde (1904–1975), Ernst (1911–1986), and Else (1913–1997). Their daughter Clärenore

530-463: Is a UK-based cold roll-forming company which was acquired by voestalpine AG in 1998. The company is based in Oldbury , and makes metal products for the construction and manufacturing industries. It was established in 1931 and is now (since 2014) known as voestalpine Metsec plc. Voestalpine Signaling UK, previously known as CDSRail, produce diagnostic and monitoring infrastructure for rail. It

583-699: Is active in steel , automotive , railway systems , profilform and tool steel industries. As of 2017, it is one of the few profitable steel companies in Europe. 45 percent of its workforce is based in Austria. The Linz hot strip mill is a "fully integrated steel works" operated by voestalpine Stahl GmbH, a part of the steel division of voestalpine AG. In addition to Linz the most important plants are in Leoben in Styria and in Krems in Lower Austria . It had

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636-513: Is now Cognor Stahlhandel, still based in Linz and part of the Cognor Group, a division of Zlomrex S.A. Capital Group. In April 2007, voestalpine made a bid for 20.95 percent of the Austrian tool steel producer Böhler-Uddeholm , which was created in 1991 from the merger of Böhler Group and Swedish Uddeholm Group, the latter acquired by Voest-Alpine Stahl AG in 1990. The combined company

689-670: Is the roll forming division of voestalpine AG. The company has supplied parts for the aerospace industry since 1949 and for Boeing airplanes since 1969. It also supplies NASA and McDonnell Douglas . Products also include model train tracks and gymnasium bleachers . At first the company made aluminum parts for airplane structures, but in the late 1980s, Roll Forming added preparing parts for assembly. The company still uses this process for Spirit AeroSystems , which puts together stringers for many of Boeing's larger planes. Other locations for Roll Forming are Jeffersonville, Indiana and Farrell, Pennsylvania . Roll Forming agreed to

742-585: The Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 . VÖEST assets became the principal Austrian recipient of the Marshall Plan aid but access to American cash came only after a protracted political battle within Austrian establishment. Geoffrey Keyes had to recruit steel expert William E. Brewster to sort through the Austrian proposals. Brewster supported the Austrian four-year plan but its key opponent Franz Nemchak called it "a colossal stupidity" and demanded

795-592: The Freikorps . Captain Waldemar Pabst , who was responsible for the murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht , is said to have been financed through one of his confidants. Already at the end of 1918 he had contributed around 4.4 million Reichsmarks to the financing of the Alfred Hugenberg media empire, which was supposed to carry nationalist propaganda to the population and which later became

848-735: The Hamburg-American Line and the North German Lloyd . His Hamburg interests continued to multiply in something like geometrical progression. He purchased half a dozen landed estates in Saxony to supply timber for pit props. At Flensburg in Schleswig , he secured control of the largest Baltic shipping concern, and proceeded to build a new fleet of ships, christening one of them the "Hindenburg". Stinnes' connection with Ludendorff led to his becoming an influence behind

901-738: The Kapp Putsch as a senseless adventure, but at the same time made friendly gestures towards Wolfgang Kapp personally. Substantial support was provided by Stinnes to the NSDAP. It is assumed that it was his donations to the Nazi party treasury that created the financial base of the Beer Hall Putsch . About the time of his election to the Reichstag, Stinnes began to buy up leading German newspapers, one of his main objects being to organize

954-593: The Mur around 1.2 kilometres downstream. [REDACTED] Media related to Kapfenberg at Wikimedia Commons This Styria location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Voestalpine 48°16′26″N 14°20′00″E  /  48.27389°N 14.33333°E  / 48.27389; 14.33333 Voestalpine AG – stylized as voestalpine – is an Austrian steel-based technology and capital goods group based in Linz , Austria . The company

1007-532: The 1920s, Stinnes was embroiled in a legal dispute with Mayer Wilderman. Wilderman, who had been born in Bessarabia (then part of Russia), had set up a series of factories in Germany in 1912. However, at the outbreak of World War I, Stinnes seized the factories and deprived Wilderman of his assets, using the excuse that Wilderman was an "enemy alien". In 1918, Bessarabia became part of Romania , and Wilderman attempted to recover his assets. However, Stinnes delayed

1060-460: The 45% Vossloh share in VAE was bought by Voest-Alpine for €140 million, and in 2003 VAE Group GmbH became a subsidiary of voestalpine Bahnsysteme division. In 2001, the name of Voest-Alpine Stahl Group changed to voestalpine AG in order to fit the standard naming pattern of Austrian public corporations. During 2006, Voestalpine decided to dispose of its steel trading group. Voestalpine Stahlhandel

1113-519: The Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions. Hugo Stinnes Hugo Adolf Eugen Victor Stinnes commonly known as Hugo Stinnes (12 February 1870 – 10 April 1924) was a German industrialist and politician who served as a member of Reichstag from 1920 to 1924 (his death). During the late era of the German Empire and early Weimar Republic, he was considered to be one of

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1166-712: The Allied bombers levelled most of Linz, too. During 1945, Allied-occupied Austria was partitioned into four occupation zones; the heavy industries of the former Reichswerke concentrated in the American (Linz) and British (Erzberg) zones. The future of Linz was debated in 1945–1946. Local government of Styria and the British objected to reconstruction of Linz works, calling it the white elephant , too far from coal and ore reserves, and too large to be economical. The American authorities at first concurred and suggested to reduce

1219-649: The Board of Directors of the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk Aktiengesellschaft ( RWE ). He envisioned using the steam from his mines to drive turbines for electricity production. As soon as Stinnes recognized RWE's potential he and steel magnate Fritz Thyssen bought shares to become the majority shareholder. The reason for RWE's rapid growth were the permits provided by the communities. However, since these concessions were time-limited, he chose to make

1272-607: The Linz works to eight coke ovens under Alpine-Mountain management, dismantle the furnaces and use the parts for the needed repairs in Donawitz (Styria). The Soviets voted to dismantle Linz altogether. The Austrian national government carefully persuaded the Americans to save Linz. In the summer of 1946, when allied negotiations on Linz reached a stalemate, the Americans decided to restore Linz unilaterally, regardless of British or Soviet opinion. Tactics of reconstruction became

1325-617: The Nazi leadership openly broke with the steel barons and settled for state control over iron and steel production. In the same year Hermann Göring expressed his desire to control Austrian iron reserves at Erzberg. After the Anschluss state-owned Reichswerke Hermann Göring purchased a 13% share in Alpine, and for the next six months wrestled with the VS over control of the company. In March 1939,

1378-490: The VS stepped aside and the Reichswerke acquired 70% share of Alpine in exchange for a 10% share in the new plant in Linz . In June 1939, its name was changed to Alpine Montan AG Hermann Göring . The Reichswerke continued acquisitions and outright confiscations, and soon controlled around half of Austrian heavy industries. In 1944, the peak year for Alpine, its sales reached 371 million  ℛ︁ℳ︁ , 16% of

1431-510: The VÖEST and the ÖAMG committed to building their first 30-ton oxygen converters. They were put into operation in November 1952 and May 1953 and temporarily created a surge in steel-related research. Thirty-four thousand businesspeople and engineers visited the VÖEST converter by 1963. The LD process reduced processing time and capital costs per ton of steel, contributing to the competitive advantage of Austrian steel. However, errors made by

1484-477: The VÖEST and the ÖAMG management in licensing their technology made control over its adoption elsewhere impossible and, by the end of the 1950s, the Austrians had lost their competitive edge. VÖEST was merged with Österreichisch-Alpine Montangesellschaft and other companies in the 1970s, and the resulting company took the name Vöest-Alpine AG. Restructuring of Austria's nationalised industries by 1988 produced

1537-518: The communities permanent shareholders, and gave each mayor a car. Before World War I , he was the possessor of a significant fortune which was vaguely estimated at several million pounds. He was a director of many of the largest industrial and mining companies of Westphalia , the Rhineland and Luxembourg . Business interests of this magnitude were constantly expanding, and he became interested in numerous subsidiary enterprises, such as tramways and

1590-525: The company did not do well because of high energy prices and cheaper foreign steel. During 1986, Voest-Alpine sold its interest to R.S.R. Corporation. In addition, Voestalpine AG owned a portion of Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau (VAI), whose Voest-Alpine Industries subsidiary had its American headquarters in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . Siemens purchased VAI parent VA Tech in 2005. Metsec plc, previously known as Metal Sections and TI Metsec ,

1643-537: The end of 1953, the first phase of reconstruction was complete. In the summer of 1948, VÖEST, ÖAMG and Swiss Roll AG agreed to co-develop the basic oxygen steelmaking process proposed by Robert Durrer (itself a development of Henry Bessemer 's 1858 patent). By June 1949, VÖEST developed an adaptation of Durrer's process, the LD (Linz-Donawitz) process, (German: LD Verfahren; U.S. names: Oxygen Converter Process, Basic Oxygen Furnace Process, BOP, OSM). In December 1949,

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1696-406: The government sold its last shares of the company in 2003. Voest-Alpine Stahl owned 21.25 of Voest-Alpine Technologie, which was the parent company of the former Voest-Alpine plant-building unit Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau , split from the larger company in 1956. During 2001, Voestalpine bought Polynorm, a Bunschoten, Netherlands manufacturer of auto parts, in exchange for $ 118 million. At

1749-625: The industrial production of occupied Belgium and to help to set in motion the gigantic production of war material which the German general headquarters demanded. During the war, Stinnes extended his activities in Hamburg, and in 1916 he bought up the Woermann and the East African steamship lines. In these new undertakings, he became associated with the two greatest German shipping companies,

1802-456: The latter being one of the oldest newspapers in Germany. Both of the Munich journals were previously exponents of a very much more democratic trend of opinion than that which came to characterize them under his proprietorship. Ancillary to these acquisitions, Stinnes secured large interests in paper mills in order to make his newspapers independent of the paper market. By the early 1920s, Stinnes

1855-669: The latter—especially on the Rhine—on a constantly increasing scale. He next organized an extensive international business in coal, and had 13 steamers trading to and from North Sea , Baltic , Mediterranean and Black Sea ports. They carried coal, wood, grain and iron ore. By the age of 23, Stinnes was heavily invested in the steel industry. He also imported great quantities of English coal and had an agency at Newcastle as well as an interest in some English mines. This led to his establishing branches of his business at Hamburg and at Rotterdam . Since its founding in 1898, Stinnes had been on

1908-641: The most influential entrepreneurs in Europe. Stinnes was born in Mülheim , in the Ruhr Valley , North German Confederation . His parents Hermann Hugo (1842–1887) and Adeline Stinnes (1844–1925), and his grandfather, Matthias Stinnes, had founded a modest enterprise in Mülheim. After passing his graduating examination from a secondary school ( Realschule ), young Stinnes was placed in an office at Koblenz where he received business training. In order to get

1961-530: The nation-wide propaganda machine for Adolf Hitler 's NSDAP . In June 1920, after the German Revolution , Stinnes was elected to the Reichstag . He acted as spokesman for German industry towards trade unions and laid the foundation of today's system of cooperation between the unions and employers in Germany. The introduction of the eight-hour day is a prime example of it. Stinnes denounced

2014-496: The process by disputing the facts surrounding Wilderman's birth, such as accusing Wilderman of forging his birth certificate, and used financial sleight of hand to pretend the assets had in fact been dissipated and, therefore, there was nothing that could be restored. Stinnes died in Berlin as a result of a gall bladder operation. Although his financial empire held some 4500 companies and 3000 manufacturing plants, it collapsed within

2067-848: The purchase by Voest-Alpine Krems in 2000, giving the Voest-Alpine Stahl AG subsidiary its first manufacturing facilities in the United States. In the 2010s, the company made a $ 740 million investment in a HBI plant outside Corpus Christi, Texas . Groundbreaking took place in April 2014 and production activity commenced on 28 September 2016. During 2022, the majority stake of the plant was sold to ArcelorMittal . During 1978, Voest-Alpine and other European companies started Bayou Steel Corporation, incorporated in Louisiana in 1979. The first mill opened in LaPlace, Louisiana in 1981, but

2120-655: The scenes in German politics. In 1918 he became a founding member of the Deutsche Volkspartei ( German People's Party or DVP), the new electioneering name of the former National Liberal Party . On his initiative, on January 10, 1919, Stinnes conducted a meeting of top representatives of the German economy in revolutionary Berlin and funded Antibolschewistenfonds (Anti-Bolshevist Fund) of the Anti-Bolshevist League , which distributed anti-communist propaganda and financed right wing groups such as

2173-560: The supply of electric power and light. He was always engaged in founding new companies or amalgamating existing ones. Stinnes managed to maintain an extensive and even a detailed knowledge of the working of all the companies in which he was engaged and, in all of them, to exact zealous and conscientious work from his business subordinates. The secret of his success was vertical integration and an essential unity of direction and coordination of aims in all branches of his enterprises. When World War I broke out, Stinnes secured an enormous share in

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2226-513: The time, the company stated its goal to be a 15 percent share of European auto-body parts. In 1998, Voest-Alpine Stahl and Vossloh AG joined to purchase 90 percent of VAE Group. The Austrian manufacturer of railroad switches , turnout systems and related products was founded in 1851. as Hugo-Hütte by Hugo Henckel von Donnersmarck and owned by Österreichisch-Alpine Montangesellschaft from 1889 until that company's 1973 merger with Voest-Alpine AG, and had been independent since 1990. During 2002,

2279-460: The war profits which enlarged the fortunes of the great industrialists. In enemy countries, his enterprises were sequestrated, and his firm at Rotterdam placed on the Allies' "black list". But, apart from the regular indemnification paid by the German government, he was richly compensated when he was called in by Erich Ludendorff , as the most competent expert to give advice, to organize the coal and

2332-475: The whole mining and steel sales of the Reichswerke. The Reichswerke announced its plans for a new steel mill in Linz before the takeover of Alpine, as an incentive for VS to extract more ore at Erzberg. Linz had a special place in Nazi system, and the steel project received full financial commitment of the state. On 13 May 1938, the ground breaking ceremony for the Hermann Göring Werke in Linz

2385-769: Was acquired by voestalpine AG in 2008. On 9 March 2016, the World Bank Group announced the debarment of Isando -based Voestalpine VAE SA (Pty) Ltd and its affiliates for a period of 27 months. The punitive measure was applied following the failed disclosure of relevant information in the company's bid for a contract under the Multimodal Transport Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo . The debarment of Voestalpine VAE SA (Pty) Ltd and affiliates qualifies for cross-debarment by other Multilateral Development Banks under

2438-741: Was also using his influence in the press to attack the Versailles Treaty . Stinnes used his access to hard foreign currency during the period of inflation in the Weimar Republic to borrow vast sums in Reichsmark, repaying the loans with nearly worthless currency later. This earned him the title of " Inflationskönig " (Inflation King). In 1923, the American magazine Time called him "The New Emperor of Germany" to describe his far-reaching political influence and wealth. In

2491-538: Was completed with the takeover of Danube shipping companies and local construction businesses. The steel mill was completed during the conflict and was generously subsidized by the state. Between 1943 and 1944, when the Ruhr was heavily bombed (see Battle of the Ruhr ), Hitler demanded a sharp increase in steel production in Austria. Göring launched a huge and unmanageable expansion campaign and spared no expense, all in vain:

2544-577: Was dismantled and sold to SSAB (then known as Norrbottens Järnverk AB) in Luleå , Sweden ; the proceeds were used to purchase coal in Poland . The supply of coal allowed VÖEST to restart its pig iron smelting operation in June 1947; the first pig iron was shipped to Sweden. Two other furnaces were earmarked for sale to Czechoslovakia ; Mark Clark objected to this deal since 1946 and it finally fell apart after

2597-659: Was founded in Vienna on 19 July 1881, as a vehicle of consolidating Austrian iron and steel assets. Some of these assets were later depleted, abandoned or sold. The core assets that remained concentrated in Styria : the iron ore pits in Erzberg and a steel mill in Donawitz. The company also owned smaller businesses and railroads in the Mur River valley and in Lower Austria ( Krems and Schwechat ). Alpine, chaired by Karl Wittgenstein , peaked in 1912, when it owned four coal mines, two iron ore mines and six metallurgical plants. In 1922, fifty-six percent of Alpine Montangesellschaft, then owned by Fiat (see Camillo Castiglioni ),

2650-431: Was held. Paul Pleiger was appointed chief of the Reichswerke in Linz for his services to the Nazis during the Anschluss. The synergy of steel works in Linz and ore reserves at Erzberg, vertically integrated into the Reichswerke, made it virtually independent of the steel elite of the Ruhr . The works in Linz were viewed as a hub of a future steel conglomerate spanning over the whole Central Europe. The integration

2703-620: Was one of three created from Austrian Industries AG in 1993. By June, voestalpine held 55 percent of voting stock after "the largest acquisition in Austria’s industrial history", worth two billion Euros . In March 2008, voestalpine said it owned 90.24% of Böhler-Uddehom and intended to buy the rest. In February 2018, voestalpine started constructing a steel mill in Linz , Austria specifically utilizing 6 MW hydrogen fuel technology instead of coal, which started in late 2019. During 1990, Voest-Alpine Eisenbahnsysteme and Nortrak Railway Supply Ltd. of Richmond, British Columbia , Canada formed

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2756-405: Was purchased by Hugo Stinnes for the German giant Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG (VS). After the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, the Nazi leadership and the German steel barons clashed in a conflict over the rate of economic growth: the Nazis demanded rapid buildup of industrial capacity while the big business feared overproduction and preferred to keep status quo . In the first half of 1937

2809-438: Was won by the Soviet Union . Kapfenberg is located around 43 kilometres north of the Styrian capital Graz and around 117 kilometres southwest of the Austrian capital Vienna . The town lies between the Mürztaler Alps and Fischbach Alps . The highest point is the Floning at 1583 metres above sea level, the lowest point at 483 metres above sea level is the Mürz on the municipal border with Bruck an der Mur, which flows into

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