Conrad Wilhelm Eger
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Conrad Wilhelm Eger, often referred to as C. W. Eger (12 December 1880 – 2 December 1966) was a Norwegian businessperson. An associate of
Sam Eyde Samuel Eyde (29 October 1866 – 21 June 1940) was a Norwegian engineer and industrialist. He was the founder of both Norsk Hydro and Elkem. Personal life Eyde was born in Arendal in Aust-Agder, Norway. He was a son of ship-owner Samuel Eyde ( ...
, Eger was the chief executive officer of
Elkem Elkem is a company that produces silicones, silicon, alloys for the foundry industry, carbon and microsilica, and other materials. Elkem was founded in 1904, has more than 7,000 employees and fields 30 production sites worldwide. Elkem has an oper ...
from 1912 to 1950, and later played a role in building the Norwegian
iron industry Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's ...
.


Early life

He was born in
Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...
as a son of barrister Nicolai Andresen Eger (1849–1910) and his wife Marie Frimann Dietrichson (1853–1946). He was a brother of barrister Adolf Eger. In October 1911 he married Dikke Smith Housken (1890–1938), a daughter of dentist Ole Smith Housken.


Business career

He took his
examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...
in 1899 and engineer education in
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
. After graduation in 1906 he became affiliated with industrialist
Sam Eyde Samuel Eyde (29 October 1866 – 21 June 1940) was a Norwegian engineer and industrialist. He was the founder of both Norsk Hydro and Elkem. Personal life Eyde was born in Arendal in Aust-Agder, Norway. He was a son of ship-owner Samuel Eyde ( ...
. From 1907 to 1908, Eger headed Eyde's engineer office in
Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...
. Between 1908 and 1910, he oversaw the construction of the power plant at Lienfoss in Telemark. In 1911 Eger took over as chief executive officer of the company
Arendals Fossekompani Arendals Fossekompani ASA () is a Norwegian company located in Arendal. Its principal business is production and sale of electric energy from its 2 hydroelectric powerplants. It is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange () (OSE: ...
. The next year, he became chief executive of
Elektrokemisk Elkem is a company that produces silicones, silicon, alloys for the foundry industry, carbon and microsilica, and other materials. Elkem was founded in 1904, has more than 7,000 employees and fields 30 production sites worldwide. Elkem has an opera ...
, later renamed Elkem. He had been a board member of Elektrokemisk since 1910. In 1912, he was also named as
chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
of the
silicon carbide Silicon carbide (SiC), also known as carborundum (), is a hard chemical compound containing silicon and carbon. A wide bandgap semiconductor, it occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite, but has been mass-produced as a powder a ...
production company Arendal Smelteverk. He was also the chairman of the Norwegian Lawn Tennis Federation from 1913 to 1920. In 1924 he published the book ''Lawn-tennis''; reissued in 1930 under the name ''Tennis''.


World War II

On 9 April 1940, Norway had been invaded by Germany as a part of World War II. The ruling
cabinet Nygaardsvold __NOTOC__ Nygaardsvold's Cabinet (later becoming the Norwegian government-in-exile) was appointed on 20 March 1935, the second Labour cabinet in Norway. It brought to an end the non-socialist minority governments that had dominated Norwegian p ...
and the
Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...
fled the capital
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
, and Fascist politician
Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (; ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Nazi collaborator who Quisling regime, headed the government of N ...
took advantage of the situation to perform a coup d'etat. However, this was highly unpopular among the Norwegian people, and the newly arrived German occupants did not support such a government either. The
Supreme Court of Norway The Supreme Court of Norway ( Norwegian Bokmål: ; Norwegian Nynorsk: ; lit. 'Highest Court') is the highest court in the Norwegian judiciary. It was established in 1815 on the basis of section 88 in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, ...
, with support from directors in business life and civil administration, was given the green light by German envoy
Curt Bräuer Curt Bräuer (24 February 1889 – 8 September 1969) was a German career diplomat. Born in Breslau, in what is modern-day Poland, Bräuer entered service in the German foreign ministry in 1920. From 1928 to 1930, he was a member of the German D ...
to establish the so-called
Administrative Council Administrative Council () was a part of Council of State (Kingdom of Poland), Council of State of the Congress Poland. Introduced by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland in 1815, it was composed of 5 ministers, special nominees of the Tsar, Ki ...
. On 3 May 1940, the Administrative Council established the Committee for Industry and Trade (''Nemnda for industri og omsetning''), to maintain industrial production in Norway throughout the hardships of the war. Conrad Wilhelm Eger had a central role in this committee, together with Carl Bøyesen, Einar Schjelderup,
Elias Volan Elias Karelius Johansen Volan (10 March 1887 – 26 December 1974) was a Norway, Norwegian trade unionist. He was born in Inderøy Municipality as a son of Croft (land), crofter Johan Berent Johannessen Volvollan and Lise Eliasdatter Kjærbo. He ...
and chairman Einar Sunde. Eger was also a member of a committee that reviewed the potential for building more
aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
plants. The German occupants eventually tightened their control over Norway, spearheaded by ''
Reichskommissar (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official governatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Ger ...
''
Josef Terboven Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven (23 May 1898 – 8 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Essen and the '' Reichskommissar'' for Norway during the German occupation. Terboven wa ...
. The Administrative Council was abolished on 25 September 1940, and the Committee for Industry and Trade was abolished in February 1941. The Committee for Industry and Trade was scrutinized after the war, as a part of the
legal purge in Norway after World War II The legal purge in Norway after World War II (; ) took place between May 1945 and August 1948 against anyone who was found to have Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaborated with the German occupation of Norway, German occupat ...
. In the autumn of 1941, Eger was behind a resistance to the German-friendly working committee in the
Federation of Norwegian Industries The Federation of Norwegian Industries () is an employers' organisation in Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic ...
. Together with Gunnar Schjelderup he created the industrial development group '' Studieselskapet for Norsk Industri''. From 1944 it was coordinated with the industrial planning for the post-war age, conducted out of London and New York by Norwegian authorities-in-exile. Eger was also a central figure in Hjemmefrontens Ledelse. He had to flee to the neutral Sweden in 1944.


Post-war

Eger was instrumental in the establishment of
Norsk Jernverk Norsk Jernverk is a former Norwegian industrial company which was founded in 1946 in Mo i Rana, fully owned by the Norwegian government. The production started in 1955. In 1985, it acquired the steel company Christiania Spigerverk, which was later ...
in
Mo i Rana (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ) or (and unofficially , ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city, and the administrative centre of Rana Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the Helgeland region of Nordland, just sou ...
in 1946, having been appointed as chairman of the national Ironworks Commission in August 1945 by the Gerhardsen's First Cabinet. He was chair of Elkem after stepping down as chief executive; from 1950 to 1959. He chaired
Forsikringsselskapet Norden Forsikringsselskapet Norden was a general insurance company based in Norway. It was founded as ''Brandforsikringsselskabet Norden'' on 4 April 1867, and began operating on 2 September the same year. Its first offices were located in ''Karl Johans ...
from 1950 to 1955, and chaired the supervisory council of Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse from 1946 to 1953. He was also involved in academia, as a council member of NTNF and from 1951 as a fellow of the
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...
. He was decorated as a Commander of the
Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...
in 1954.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eger, Conrad Wilhelm 1880 births 1966 deaths People from Bærum Norwegian expatriates in Germany 20th-century Norwegian engineers 20th-century Norwegian businesspeople Norwegian resistance members Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Place of death missing