Aurubis Founders and Personas
The founders of Norddeutsche Affinerie
Dr. Ferdinand Beit
(1817-1870)
Karl Friedrich Ludwig Freiherr von Westenholz
(1825-1898)
Son of draper Philipp Raphael Beit
1846 Technical director of Elbkupferwerk
1857 Co-founder of Elbhütten-Affinir Handelsgesellschaft
1866 Charter member and president of Supervisory Board at NA (1866–1870)
Founder of Friedrich Westenholz & Co.
1858–1872 Member of Supervisory
Board at Norddeutsche Bank
1866 Elected vice-president of Supervisory Board at NA
1870–1898 President of NA
George Ferdinand Gorrissen
(1821–1904)
Employment in paternal business “Gorrissen & Lutz” in Hamburg until
his appointment as grand ducal consul general
1869 Ennoblement
1898–1904 Member of Supervisory Board at NA
Ferdinand Jacobson
(1822–1905)
Merchant and founder of a trading company in Hamburg named after him
1856 Charter member of Norddeutsche Bank
1866–1902 Member of Supervisory Board at NA
1861 President of Commercial Deputation
1895 Conversion of his trading company to a bank
Chairmen of the Executive Board
Dr. Felix Warlimont
(1879–1950)
Ernst La Pierre
(1895–1971)
Kurt Heide
(1898–1980)
Walter A. Gleich
(1924–1999)
1915 Joined Metallbank and Metallurgische Gesellschaft in Frankfurt/Main as an engineer
1920 Dispatch to Hamburg to write an expert opinion on the economic problems of NA
1920–1942 Chairman of the Board of Directors
1942–1950 Chairman of Supervisory Board
1921 Joined NA as assistant to financial management
1930 Appointment to Executive Board
1951–1961 Chairman of Executive Board
1955 Award of German Federal Cross of Merit
1927 Joined NA
1938/39 Worked for NA in Chile
From 1947 Member of Executive Board
1961–1976 Chairman of Executive Board
1976–1981 Chairman of Supervisory Board
1981–2002 Honorary Chairman of Supervisory Board
1942 Joined NA
1947 Rejoined NA as administrative apprentice following captivity as British
prisoner of war
1961 Deputy member of Executive Board
1966 Associate member of Executive Board
1976–1986 Chairman of Executive Board
Paul Hofmeister
(1909–2002)
Gerhard Berndt
(geb. 1928)
Dr. Klaus Göckmann
(geb. 1942)
Dr. Werner Marnette
(geb. 1945)
1927 Joined NA
1938/39 Worked for NA in Chile
From 1947 Member of Executive Board
1961–1976 Chairman of Executive Board
1976–1981 Chairman of Supervisory Board
1981–2002 Honorary Chairman of Supervisory Board
1953 Joined NA, work at Rohhütte Nord smelter
From 1964 Technical assistant to the Executive Board; management and
planning of RWO
1972 Deputy member of Executive Board
1975 Ordinary member of Executive Board
1986–1990 Chairman of Executive Board
1975 Joined Metallgesellschaft
1987 Transfer to Cominco Ltd. in Vancouver
1990 Member of Executive Board at NA
1990–1994 Chairman of Executive Board
1978 Joined NA as assistant production manager
1980 Rejoined NA after working one year for Korf Stahl AG
1986 Appointed plant manager
1990 Appointment to Executive Board as deputy member
1992 Ordinary member of Executive Board
1997 Chief human resources officer
1994–2007 Chairman of Executive Board
Dr. Bernd Drouven
(geb. 1955)
Jürgen Schachler
(geb. 1954)
Peter Willbrandt
(geb. 1962)
2001 Joined NA as chief operating officer of subsidiary Spiess-Urania Chemicals
GmbH in Hamburg
2004 Head of strategic planning/international relations
2006 Appointment to Executive Board as chief financial officer
2008–2011 Chairman of Executive Board
2013 Member of Supervisory Board
Until 1993 Various positions in the chemical and metalworking industries,
including at Solvay
1993 Joined Usinor Group Paris as managing director of Sprint Metall Deutschland
1999–2016 CEO of various companies of ArcelorMittal in the United States,
Thailand, Canada and Europe
July 1, 2016 Starting as chairman of Executive Board
1988 Joined NA as assistant production manager
2004 Head of Business Unit Primary Copper
2007 Appointment to Executive Board as deputy member
2008 Ordinary member of Executive Board
2012–2014 Chairman of Executive Board
Other significant personalities
Marcus Salomon Beit
(1734–1810)
Siegmund Robinow
(1808 – 1870)
Johann Cesar Godeffroy VI.
(1813 – 1885)
Dr. Emil Wohlwill
(1835–1912)
Son of wealthy Jewish draper Salomon Isaac Beit
1770 Founder of gold and silver smelting works at no. 43, 1 Elbstrasse
Son of Marcus and Emma (née Beit) Robinow
1846 Co-founder of Elbkupferwerk on the Elbe island of Steinwerder
1856 Co-founder of Norddeutsche Bank
1857 Stockholder of Elbhütten-Affinirund Handelsgesellschaft
Shipowner and merchant from old Huguenot family
1837 Joined J. C. Godeffroy & Sohn
1846 Co-founder of Elbkupferwerk on the Elbe island of Steinwerder
1856 Co-founder of Norddeutsche Bank
Pioneer in the subject of electrolytic refining
1855–1859 Studies in experimental chemistry, organic chemistry, experimental
physics, mineralogy, geology and botany. Conferral of PhD in Göttingen with dissertation “Über isomorphe Mischungen der selensauren Salze”
1860 Self-employed trade chemist
1875 Development of tankhouse principle for copper electrolysis
1877–1900 Senior chemist at NA
Dr. Heinrich Wohlwill
(1874–1943)
Richard Merton
(1881–1960)
Son of Emil Wohlwill
1898 Joined NA
1903 Invention of electrolytic method for production of cuprous oxide (Cu2O)
1913–1933 Member of Executive Board and technical director at NA
1942 Deportation to Theresienstadt concentration camp
1943 Murdered
Industrialist and politician; son of Wilhelm Merton, founder of Metallgesellschaft
1917 Chairman of Supervisory Board at Metallgesellschaft
1935 Member of Supervisory Board at NA
1938 Enforced withdrawal from all functions within companies and institutions
1950–1955 Chairman of Supervisory Board at Metallgesellschaft
1950–1958 Chairman of Supervisory Board at NA