User:Eli185/Otto A. Friedrich

Otto Andreas Friedrich (* July 3, 1902 in Leipzig; † December 8, 1975 in Düsseldorf) was a German businessman. From 1969 to 1973 he was president of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA).

Family
His father was the surgeon and university teacher Paul Leopold Friedrich (* 1864; † 1916). Otto Andreas Friedrich was married in his first marriage from 1924 to 1930 to the writer and journalist Ruth Behrens (* 1901; † 1977), who wrote after the divorce under the name Ruth Andreas-Friedrich. Her daughter Karin Friedrich, born in 1925, also became a journalist.

One of his brothers was the German-American political scientist Carl Joachim Friedrich.

His youngest son is the Taiji master Andreas W. Friedrich, who lives and teaches in Munich.

Career and work
Otto A. Friedrich first studied medicine in Marburg and Vienna from 1921. After passing his preliminary physics exams very well, he continued his studies in Heidelberg and Berlin. In order to make a living during his studies, he sold various goods with such success that he soon recognized his 'true talent' as a merchant and entrepreneur.. He then switched to economics, did not complete his studies and instead set up his own business, a "specialist shop for technical supplies". The worsening credit situation prompted him to undergo a classical commercial apprenticeship, after which he emigrated to the USA in 1926. There he began his career as a laborer and employee at the BF Goodrich Rubber Company in Ohio. He soon attracted positive attention there, was promoted, and as early as 1927 was sent back to Germany on behalf of Goodrich to work on their behalf, among other things to set up an independent German sales company from 1930. After this had to be closed again after two years, Friedrich took on tasks in the German rubber industry and became the managing director of several cartels.

From 1939 to 1965, he held an executive position at the Hamburg rubber goods and tire manufacturer Phoenix AG, serving as its general manager from 1949. He then joined the Flick Group as a personally liable partner, a position he held until his death in 1975.

Otto A. Friedrich had joined the NSDAP in 1941 and his company was an important part of the Nazi armaments industry. Nevertheless, he was able to continue his activities under the British occupation forces in 1945 and played a leading role in the reconstruction. He rose to become a raw materials advisor to the German government.

He became an advocate of the social market economy. At Phoenix, which he linked economically with numerous U.S. companies, approaches of the American human relations movement of business administration were put into practice. As president of the BDA during the years of Willy Brandt's government, he represented the employers' side in the Concerted Action.

From 1959 to 1960 he was a member of the advisory board of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

Awards

 * 1951: Großes Verdienstkreuz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
 * 1973: Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
 * 1956: Freiherr vom Stein-Preis 1956

Literature

 * Volker Berghahn, Paul J. Friedrich: Otto A. Friedrich, ein politischer Unternehmer. Sein Leben und seine Zeit. 1902–1975. Campus, Frankfurt/Main 1993, ISBN 3-593-34847-0.
 * Paul Erker, Toni Pierenkemper (Hrsg.): Deutsche Unternehmer zwischen Kriegswirtschaft und Wiederaufbau. Studien zur Erfahrungsbildung von Industrie-Eliten. Oldenbourg, München 1999, ISBN 3-486-56363-7.
 * Phoenix Gummiwerke Aktiengesellschaft (Hrsg.): Otto A. Friedrich, Porträt eines Unternehmers in seinen Reden und Schriften. Hamburg, 1965.
 * Ernst Goyke (Hrsg.): Die 100 von Bonn, 1972–1976. Gustav Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach, 1973, ISBN 3-7857-0125-X.