After he had completed his studies at the
RWTH Aachen University,
University of Karlsruhe and a commercial school (Institut Supérieur du Commerce de l’État) at
Antwerp he like his brother
Joseph Thyssen joined the
bank of his father
Friedrich Thyssen. In 1867 Thyssen and several members of his family founded the
iron works "Thyssen-Foussol & Co" in
Duisburg. When this company was dissolved in 1870, he used the new capital to establish with his father the "Walzwerk Thyssen & Co" that would become the base of an industrial empire in the industrialized
Mülheim an der Ruhr, where the high of
iron and
steel prizes contributed to the making of his fortune. Initially he managed different companies separately in a decentralized fashion, but eventually he united them through a
holding company. The largest company of his was the
coal mining company "Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser" in
Hamborn (now part of
Duisburg) that he had acquired in 1891. He built the first 500-ton
blast furnace in
Germany, the first 100-ton
Martin furnace, and the first large tube (
iron pipe size) works. Together with
Hugo Stinnes Thyssen was a cofounder of
RWE. The Thyssen
conglomerate became the nucleus of
Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG, the biggest mining and steel cartel in the world, prior to
World War II. Thyssen was refounded in 1953 and joined with KruppHoesch to become
ThyssenKrupp in 1997. Thyssen purchased most of
Beeckerwerth, including
Haus Knipp, in the early 20th century. He was the first in his family to start acquiring a collection of
works of art, including six pieces by his friend
sculptor Auguste Rodin. Thyssen's firm was a
vertically integrated company, controlling all aspects of the steelmaking process. He owned his own fleet of ships, a network of docks and a railroad. Although he was one of the richest men in Germany, to the day he died his ethos was "If I rest, I rust." He lived a simple life; he ran his empire from a dingy office in Mülheim, drove an old car, wore
off-the-peg suits, and was known to drink and eat with his workers. He was also an ardent
republican. In the winter of 1916-1917 (during the first World War) August Thyssen stayed at a health resort in Switzerland in seclusion. A rumor floated that he was unhappy with Germany's conduct of the war. Shortly after a pamphlet circulated in neutral countries, and a few weeks later in England and the United States. It was considered the most sensational document of the war. The pamphlet contained terrible accusations against the Kaiser and the German government, dating back to 1912 when Wilhelm II submitted war plans from the General Staff to a section of German big business asking financial and economic support for the war in exchange for expansion opportunities after the war. The war was not supposed to last more than a year, and subsequently the General Staff kept asking for more money as time dragged on and the war wasn't over, and never offered the expansion that was promised. Thyssen was asked to contribute $100,000 in the most recent loan, but he refused. In turn, his contracts with the state were cancelled, and his enterprise put under state control. He returned to Germany in 1917, and never made a statement as to the authenticity of the pamphlet. He continued to lead a secluded life in his Landsberg castle, and management soon went to his son Fritz. The business survived the collapse of 1918 and the revolutionary disorders that followed. "The House of Thyssen has served every master who promised to conquer the world and share the booty with the Thyssens. Both Thyssens, father [Arthur] and son [Fritz], were Pan-Germans and Nazis, who promoted and financed the plans of world conquest because they sought to extend their own business. Long before the outbreak of the First World War, August Thyssen was the originator of the Moroccan crisis of 1904-1905 which nearly led to a German attack on France. Thyssen had planned to grant a loan to the Sultan of Morocco in return for the right to exploit the Moroccan iron mines. This was the best opportunity, he declared, to settle accounts with France on the battlefields. The Berlin government shared these views, but beat a hasty retreat upon learning that England would stand by France." Thyssen died in 1926 of
pneumonia following complications from
eye surgery. ==Personal life==