Ferdinand Osvald Conrad Anker (12 December 1876 – 23 April 1954) was a Norwegian 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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 machine (mechanical), mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are list of agricultural machinery, many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractor ...

. 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. During its initial decades, the firm was involved in the manufacture of cast iron stoves and hydroelectric turbines. The turbine busin ...

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 Borough of Oslo. Production started in ...

Moss Værft & Dokk Moss Verft was a shipyard in Jeløya, Moss, Norway. For most of its existence, it was owned by a company of the same name (with spelling variations over time in the company). Locally, it was nicknamed Værven. History It had its predecessor in a ...

, 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 () 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 Christiania Theatre, which was ...

and Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse, 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'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 mutua ...

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 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 ...

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

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored 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, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

for

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

, stockpiling of 12,100 tons of iron for the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi 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 military branch, branche ...

werft in

Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...

, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 (station), Borgen metro station. At , it is the largest cemetery in Norway. It was inaugurated in September 1902 and also contains a cremator ...

References

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