Monument to Friedrich Alfred Krupp

The Friedrich-Alfred-Krupp-Denkmal stands for many years on Limbecker Platz in the heart of Essen. It marked the link between Krupp’s factories in the west of the city and the urban centre. The bronze statue showed Friedrich Alfred Krupp in heroic size, flanked by two workers on one side and a mother with child plus a man on the other. A semicircular Muschelkalk wall formed the backdrop, reached by a few steps. The monument was paid for by workers’ collections, Krupp’s friends and the city. Berlin sculptor Hugo Lederer’s design won the competition in 1905 after the city council approved the site in 1903. The unveiling on 17 November 1907 drew Krupp family members, senior managers like Ludwig Klüpfel, and a representative sent by Kaiser Wilhelm II. Only a quarter of the workforce could attend because the square was too small. After the Second World War the bronze figure was moved to the park of Villa Hügel. Near the Erlöserkirche a simpler version of the stone base and figures remains. The inscriptions thank Krupp for his leadership and for continuing his father’s work. Margarethe Krupp later gave land in Rüttenscheid so that workers could walk in public woodland and gardens.