1. Alfred Toepfer helped to shape the original internal markets of the European Coal and Steel Community, and was a philanthropist known for his celebration of the arts, sciences, and nature.
21 Facts About Alfred Toepfer
1. 2.
Alfred Toepfer lived on a farm and completed an apprenticeship while learning several languages at school.
3.
In 1913 Alfred Toepfer was one of the participants in the meeting of the first Free German Youth Day.
4.
Alfred Toepfer was wounded several times and in January 1919 was discharged a highly decorated lieutenant.
5.
The year Alfred Toepfer left the military he joined the Freikorps, led by General Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker.
6.
Alfred Toepfer would start a private bank and logistics operation.
7.
Alfred Toepfer ran the companies successfully for many years after the interruption of the end of World War II and his two-year internment.
8.
From 1926 Toepfer began to support youth development projects guided by the idea of national renewal after years of demoralization following the defeat of World War I He funded the construction of youth hostels for wayfarers.
9.
Alfred Toepfer would start the JWG Foundation, and in 1936 created the Hanseatic Scholarships, which allowed British students to study in Germany.
10.
Alfred Toepfer's foundations purchased the Hof Mohr for the VNP, which would house nature conservations.
11.
Alfred Toepfer was introduced to work of Ernst Junger and his brother Friedrich Georg Junger.
12.
Alfred Toepfer's brother Ernst Toepfer was a US citizen, and operated the New York branch of Alfred's business while being involved with pro-Nazi organisations in the country.
13.
Alfred Toepfer resided in Switzerland, employing Eugen Wildi of the Swiss National Front as an agent in the country.
14.
In early summer 1941, Alfred Toepfer's unit issued the "French Report," which planned the reorganization of Europe under Nazi Germany in collaboration with the French.
15.
Alfred Toepfer had contacts with French separatists such as Hermann Bickler and Olier Mordrel, whom he already knew from before the war, and would serve to help undermine resistance groups.
16.
Alfred Toepfer was able to open new branches for his company in Posen, Krakow, and Lemberg during this period.
17.
Alfred Toepfer aided Hartmann Lauterbacher's escape to Argentina through a letter of recommendation in 1950, and financed the legal defence of Werner Lorenz at his tribunal.
18.
Alfred Toepfer offered employment to Hermann Bickler to help him escape the death penalty, and Edmund Veesenmayer and Hans-Joachim Riecke worked at his companies well into the 1970s.
19.
The Alfred Toepfer Foundation founded an independent commission of historians in 1997, led by Hans Mommsen, which published a 488-page anthology in 2000 with a critical inventory of Toepfer Foundation biography and history.
20.
The commission concluded Alfred Toepfer had not shared the key objectives and motives of National Socialism, not even anti-Semitism, and was not enriched by the war.
21.
Alfred Toepfer was in accord with the establishment of West Germany, having close contact with leading representatives.