Krupp, Alfred 1812-87
German arms manufacturer

Born in Essen, at the age of 14 he succeeded his father Friedrich (1787-1826), who had founded a small iron forge there in 1810, and began manufacturing arms in 1837. At the Great Exhibition in London (1851) he exhibited a solid flawless ingot of cast steel weighing 4,000 kg. He established the first Bessemer steel plant and became the foremost arms supplier not only to Germany but to any country in the world, his first steel gun being manufactured in 1847. He acquired large mines, collieries and docks, and became a dominating force in the development of the Ruhr territories.