Until fairly recently, the name Thyssen-Bornemisza held generally positive associations — with vibrant German industrialism, responsible capitalism, pan-European cosmopolitanism, artistic connoisseurship and philanthropy, all tinged with a pleasant whiff of Hungarian nobility. Just how deeply erroneous these are revealed to have been is staggering.
August Thyssen, who created the family fortune in the second half of the 19th century, was neither an inventive manufacturer, nor an adventurous entrepreneur, nor a creative capitalist. He made his money by marrying sensibly, associating with the right people and taking advantage of opportunities. He was a careful, thrifty, cost-cutting, cheese-paring and exploitative industrialist, more of a quartermaster than a captain of industry.
His descendants were no more interested in the source of their wealth than he was, only in its extent, and while they remained largely aloof from the factory floor, they displayed nothing of the paternalism that often accompanies such distance. Indeed, the only matters that did engage their attention were the repression of their workers and lucrative sell-offs.
The Thyssen concern, which embraced coal, steel and arms production, flourished during the Great War, propelling August Thyssen’s heirs to new heights of wealth.
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