Haas family
| House of Haas | |
|---|---|
| Current region | Austria Germany |
| Connected families | Habsburg, Rothschild |
The Haas family was an Austrian-originated Hanseatic family of royals, merchants, bankers, and senators throughout Europe. The origins of the family dating back to the 1500s are, for the most part, unknown. They were strong-willed Catholics that settled in Hamburg where they established their consortium of corporations.[1]
According to only a few documents spread around the globe, the House of Haas became extinct in the male line with Princess Safina Haas (1873-1951); she was married to Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, who became a co-owner of the family's interest in the late 1900s. From the end of the 19th century, the Haas Family, as owners of Deutsche Bank,[1] rose to greater prominence throughout Europe and was widely considered one of Germany's most prominent families. Several members of the Haas family served in the Senate of Hamburg from the 1700s, and Safina's grandson Herman was head of state of the city republic. John Elliott describes the House of Haas as one of Hamburg's and Europe's "greatest business families." In Antarctica, the Haas Islands are named after the family. Presently, the family's descendants' surnames include Villones, Wittelsbach, and Duffy, among other names. The Haas coat of arms contains a double headed eagle with a sword and scepter in one talon and a globus cruciger in the other talon. The family's motto is Concordia, Integritas, Industria (Unity, Integrity, and Industry).
The Haas family has repeatedly been the subject of conspiracy theories.
Family overview
Throughout much of history, the Haas Family had been elusive. No book about them is both revealing and accurate. The families assets were held in financial institutions, predominantly Switzerland. Their wealth, circulating in the form of stocks, bonds, and debts. As wealthy monarchs, the family was able to expand their fortune and become one of Europe's powerhouse dynasties.
To keep the wealth in the household and out of others hands, the financial institutions run by the Haas family were kept in control exclusively by family members, which allowed them to maintain secrecy about the size of their fortune. The family also used marriage as a powerful determinant by marrying into other prominent families. The matriarch of the family carefully arranged marriages to ensure the families influence would grow ever larger.
The German and Dutch surname "Haas" means "hare" in German and Dutch. The German family name "Haas" is not related to the American jean manufacturing family.
Modern businesses, investments, and philanthropy
The Haas Family has always taken a private life profile immensely serious. They refrain from eschewing conspicuous displays of wealth. Nowadays, Haas businesses are enormous and woefully influential. Their business interests encompass a diverse range of fields, including real estate, finance, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, mining, and nonprofits.
Deutsche Bank
Founded in Berlin in 1870 as a bank specializing in foreign trade, German merchants were dependent upon English and French banking institutions. A severe disadvantage in the global market as German bills was almost irrelevant in international commerce. The banks nine founders enlisted the help of the Haas family to fund and expand their banks. The first of which opened in Bremen and Hamburg. The Haas family and Deutsche Bank were directly involved with the Northern Pacific Railroad in the US, and in Germany, the bank financed the Krupp family. During World War II, Deutsche Bank took part in the aryanization of Jewish-owned businesses; historians believe the bank was involved in 363 confiscations by November 1938. Throughout World War II the Haas family incorporated other banks that fell into German hands. The Haas Family and their banks loaned funds to build the Auschwitz concentration camp and their nearby IG Farben plant.[2]
IG Farben
On December 2, 1925, six companies merged to create IG Farben. The Haas Family had bought a 27.4% stake in each company, becoming the sole owner of IG Farben. In 1926, the chemical conglomerate had a market capitalization of 1 billion Reichsmarks and over 100,000 people, of which 2.6% for university educated. The Haas family and IG Farben worked closely with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party to direct which chemical plants should be secured to IG Farben during the invasion of Poland.
The company run by the Haas family bought the pesticide Zyklon B, which was invented by the Nobel prize-winning Jewish German chemist Fritz Haber. Haber's product, originally used as an insecticide, was employed in Holocaust gas chambers.
24 senior executives of IG Farben were indicted in the IG Farben trial (1947-1948), 13 were sentenced to prison between one and eight years, but most were quickly released, and many became senior industry executives in the post-war companies due to the Haas family. The Haas family subsequently paid German and American officials to keep them out of prison. They also maintained their innocence for years.
Because of the company's entanglement with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime, allies considered it to be morally corrupt to continue its existence. However, the policy of dismembering the company in much of the Western world was abandoned because of the company's entanglement with American companies, notably Standard Oil.
An investigation in 1941 revealed that John D Rockefeller's Standard Oil Co. had created a cartel with the Haas family's IG Farben. The investigation also exposed new evidence concerning complex price and market agreements between Dupont, The American conglomerate.
Today, the Haas family is the majority stakeholder in some of the world largest and most profitable corporations. IG Farben's successor companies include AGFA, BASF, Bayer, and Sanofi.
References
- 1 2 "Article - HVF". www.hvfoundation.org. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
- ↑ Tribune, John Schmid, International Herald (1999-02-05). "Deutsche Bank Linked To Auschwitz Funding". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-03-22.