The complete history of the development of The - The Linde Group

1941 1942
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, USA.
Portrait of Erich Marx on a product
brochure for the Marx & Traube company
(1932-1935).
44
Marx & Traube GmbH (MATRA-Werke GmbH)
Güldner in Aschaffenburg and the plant in Mainz-Kostheim also
worked for Marx & Traube GmbH. This automobile industry supplier
specialized in machine tools and toolsets for vehicle maintenance,
some of which it produced itself, but it also imported
from the US.
The Linde Company owned 50 percent of this company in
1931, with the other half owned by Erich Marx. When Marx, as
a Jewish businessman, had to leave the country in 1935, Linde
purchased the rest of the shares in the company. When the law
was changed in 1937 to require the names of (former) Jewish
Italian Enrico Fermi succeeds in producing
the first nuclear chain reaction.
N o 0915 Process for the separation
of air by liquefaction and rectification (US Patent).
business owners to be erased from company names, Linde
renamed the firm from Marx & Traube to MATRA-Werke as of
January 20, 1938, thus retaining the founders’ names in the
form of an acronym. After the war, Erich Marx pursued a lengthy
legal battle with the Linde Company over the return of his
shares in the business.
Starting in the mid-1930s, MATRA primarily sold mobile auto
repair facilities to the German army and air force. MATRA built
an additional production plant before in Kahl am Main World
War II to handle the extensive orders.
Linde and National Socialism
Although the Linde Company benefited considerably from the
self-sufficiency policies and the arms buildup, the relationship
between the Executive Board – particularly the members of the
Linde family – and the regime remained distant.
As General Director, Friedrich Linde was least able to avoid
contact with state institutions, and naturally wanted to take
advantage of the business opportunities for the company. This
also explains his willingness to be appointed as a “Wehrwirtschaftsführer”
or “defense economics leader.” This title, however,
also gave Friedrich Linde the authority to protect the company
from state interference.
After the war ended, both Linde brothers were arrested by
the Americans. Friedrich Linde was held in solitary confinement
in Stadelheim Prison from July to November 1945. Moreover,
the occupation authorities temporarily barred him from managing
the company.
One of Friedrich Linde’s closest employees, the plant manager
at Höllriegelskreuth, was an openly avowed supporter of the party
and regime: Dr. Alfred Hess, uncle of Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s
“deputy.” Alfred Hess also managed the Linde Company’s internal
newsletter beginning in 1936, which, in addition to information
about the company and its operations, also published National
Socialist propaganda – mainly regarding the German labor front.
The elder Hess left the company in 1942 after his nephew Rudolf
stole a small airplane and attempted to defect to England.