Zwischen Demontage und Wiederaufbau. Unternehmen und alliierte Besatzungspolitik nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg am Beispiel der Firma Henkel, Düsseldorf

• Published in: Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte 2001-10, Vol.46 (2), p.198-220
• Main Author: Hilger, Susanne
• Format: Article
• Language: eng ; ger
• ISSN: 0342-2852; 2367-2293
• DOI: 10.1515/zug-2001-0205

Dismantlement, decartelization and denazifies-tion — these keywords seem to outline the allied policies in Germany after the Second World War. By this Germany's war and arma-ment potential was to be dismantled complete-whereas the rest of the industries was con-trolled and limited to the level of a peace economy with a low demand coverage. Yet, in the meantime the affiliation to different politi-powers strongly influenced the economic in both parts of Germany. Where-as in the eastern part a socialistic planned economy was implemented in the «GDR», the allied occupation policy in West Germany in the long run contributed to the modernisation of industry und thus paved the way for the rise of the West German economy from the 1950s onwards. Focussing on the Westgerman chemily, cal producer Henkel («Persil») the following article deals with the operation of the allied occupation policy to give new insights into the genesis of the West German «Wirtschaftswuncal der» on the basis of a microeconomic perspective.