Ferdinand Osvald Conrad Anker (12 December 1876 – 23 April 1954) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

businessperson.

Pre-war career

Anker was born in Christiania, attended commerce school and resided in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

between 1897 and 1899. In 1899 he started his own company, trading in iron, steel and other construction metals. He later expanded the company with the selling of

agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that the ...

. In 1910 he abandoned the company he had started in order to take the head job of P. Schreiner sen. & Co, a company ran by his father beforehand. Anker became a board member of

Kværner Brug Kværner was a Norwegian engineering and construction services company that existed between 1853 and 2005. In 2004, it was amalgamated to the newly formed subsidiary of Aker ASA - Aker Kværner, which was renamed Aker Solutions on 3 April 2008 ...

in 1910, and advanced to chairman in 1914. He also chaired

Myrens Verksted Myrens Verksted is an industrial area in Norway on the east side of the Akerselva river, situated between the bridges Bentsebrua and Vøyenbrua in the southwest part of Torshov, in what is today the Sagene, Sagene Borough of Oslo. Production star ...

, Moss Værft & Dokk, Landbruk Maskin (in both Oslo and Florø), A/S Staal & Jern and Jernmetal. He was a main shareholder in Landbruk Maskin, Staal & Jern and Jernmetal, and a board member of

Elektrisk Bureau Elektrisk Bureau or EB was a Norwegian manufacturer of telecommunication equipment. It was founded in 1882 and lasted until 1993 when it became part of Asea Brown Boveri (ABB). The company was located at Billingstad in Asker. History In 1882 ...

, supervisory council member of

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo ( no, Nationaltheatret) is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiani ...

and

Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse, branded domestically as Kreditkassen or K-Bank and internationally as Christiania Bank was a Norwegian bank that existed between 1848 and 2000 when it merged with MeritaNordbanken and became Nordea. The bank had ...

, and also chaired two philanthropical institutions run by his family. Heavily engaged in politics, Anker was a member of the financial committee of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

's central board from 1909 to 1916. From 1925 he chaired the

employers' association An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labor. Employers' organizations seek to coordinate the behavior of their member companies in matters of mutual ...

Jerngrossistenes Forening.

Second World War and later life

In February 1946 Anker was arrested together with the office manager in P. Schreiner sen. & Co, on suspicion of "economic treason", as a part of the

legal purge in Norway after World War II The purge in Norway after World War II was a purge that took place between May 1945 and August 1948 against anyone who was deemed to have collaborated with the German occupation of the country. Several thousand Norwegians and foreign citizens wer ...

. Specific accounts were his involvement in the collection of 8000 tons of

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

for

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

, stockpiling of 12,100 tons of iron for the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

werft in

Horten is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the town of Åsgårdstrand an ...

, stockpiling of iron at the grounds of his companies in Florø, Harstad and Trondheim, as well as utilization of forced labour in doing so, delivery of spikes to a ''Luftgau-Kommando'', building of armed whaling vessels for the ''Kriegsmarine'', "statements during the war" and collection of business orders issued by Germany while the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was still ongoing in Norway. Anker pleaded not guilty, and referred to his office manager who handled the daily affairs. He was found not guilty of the spike deliverance. In spite of this, he was found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to one year of prison and a fine. , This represents about in currency (about ). In 1950 Anker was sued, as chairman of Moss Værft & Dokk, by

Øivind Lorentzen Øivind Sven Lorentzen (14 October 1882 – 9 May 1980) was a Norwegian shipping magnate. Pre-war life and career He was born in Holmestrand as a son of ship-owner Hans Ludvig Lorentzen (1839–1904) and Thala Margrethe Bredrup (1847–1941). His ...

's company Sobral. Sobral claimed that Moss Værft & Dokk neglected their contract agreement regarding the construction of two vessels during the war. First, claimed Sobral, Moss Værft & Dokk had instead used their capacity on arming whaling vessels. The two vessels had been delayed, and when they were completed, they had been taken over by ''Kriegsmarine'' as

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s. The court case lasted several years, reaching the Court of Appeal in 1954. Anker was decorated as a Commander, Second Class of the Belgian Royal Order of the Lion before the Second World War. He died in April 1954 and was buried at

Vestre gravlund Vestre Gravlund is a cemetery in the Frogner borough of Oslo, Norway. It is located next to the Borgen metro station. At , it is the largest cemetery in Norway. It was inaugurated in September 1902 and also contains a crematorium (''Vestre kre ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anker, Ferdinand 1876 births 1954 deaths Businesspeople from Oslo Conservative Party (Norway) politicians People convicted of treason for Nazi Germany against Norway Norwegian prisoners and detainees Burials at Vestre gravlund Commanders of the Royal Order of the Lion