History

1936 Following the death of Peter Klöckner’s only son, Waldemar Peter Klöckner, the Peter Klöckner Family Foundation established in 1931 is designated as the heir to the Klöckner Group.

1937 Peter Klöckner brings his son-in-law, Dr. Günter Henle, into
the Company as a partner. Dr. Henle will not retire as General Partner until 1976 – after nearly 40 years with Klöckner & Co.

1938 A delegation of leading German businessmen headed by Peter Klöckner is invited to Moscow. The volume of what back then was called the "Russian business" amounted to 2 billion Reichsmarks.
Klöckner & Co takes over the oil business of Deutzer Oel-Gesellschaft from what later will become Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG and Mineralölwerke Albrecht & Co, of Hamburg (today’s Deutsche Shell AG). The engine manufacturing and plant construction group becomes Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG.

1939 The shipping and coal trading Company Klöckner Reederei und Kohlenhandlung GmbH (KRK) is now supplying customers in 38 countries. Coal exports exceed 1.5 million tons and domestic sales exceed 1 million tons. KRK thereby becomes one of the "Big Five" coal mining/trading companies.

1940 The Group’s founder, Peter Klöckner, dies in Duisburg on October 5, 1940, at the age of 76. Until 1937, he was the sole shareholder and General Partner of Klöckner & Co.

1943 World War II does not spare the Klöckner headquarters: after a heavy bombing raid, only emergency operations can be sustained there.

1948 Klöckner & Co once again has a well-diversified product range which can now be sold for hard currency – the new Deutsche Mark. In addition, the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 creates a stable political and legal environment. The trend is typified by the scrap segment: until 1948, the division only traded relatively small quantities; shortly after the currency reform, it exceeds the 10,000-ton mark.