Back to Finding Aids
Washington State University Li braries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections Pullman, WA 99164-5610 USA (509) 335-6691 Inquiries

Cage 287
Alfons Horten
Papers, 1905-1926

The papers of Alfons Horten (f1.1900-1930), businessman of Hagendingen, in Lorraine, in the Washington State University Library, were arranged by Lawrence R. Stark in 1970 and described by him in November of 1976. The provenance of the papers has not been determined.

BIOGRAPHY

Alfons Horten was a German businessman connected with the Thyssen steelworks, either as an employee or on a retainer basis. He bore the title "Bergassessor," and was largely concerned with the purchase of ores, mines, and mining concessions. His field of activities extended throughout Europe and into Western Asia. His son Alfons Horten, (b.1907) is presently (1976) an industrialist at Duisdorf near Bonn.

DESCRIPTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE PAPERS

The papers consist largely of correspondence between Horten and August Thyssen (1842-1926), his son Fritz Thyssen (1873-1951) and officials of the Thyssen organization. A few items of correspondence with Chancellors Wilhelm Cuno (1876-1933) and Joseph Wirth (1879-1956) are included. Most of the correspondence relates to Horten's efforts to supply Thyssen's steel mills with raw materials, primarily from outside Germany. These activities placed him near the center of events associated with the German foreign policy of economic-based expansion, which characterized German foreign relations in the pre-World War I period, according to Modern European historians sympathetic to the controversial "Fischer Thesis." See Fritz Fischer, Griff nach der Weltmacht (Dusseldorf: Droste Verlag, 1961). Some items, especially letters from August Thyssen to Horten are preserved in both Thyssen's original handwriting and in typed transcripts. The arrangement of the papers is largely chronological and preser ves the order in which they were found.

CONTAINER LIST

Box	Folder	Description	Number of Items
		Letters of August Thyssen to Horten
1	1	September 1906-December 1908.	135
	2	January 1909-January 1913.	180
		Correspondence among August Thyssen, Horten and others, including typed transcripts of some items in folders 1 and 2.
	3	August 31, 1906-December 31, 1907.	120
	4	January 1, 1908-December 23, 1908	100
	5	January 1, 1909-December 28, 1909	100
	6	January 6, 1910-December 28, 1910	125
2	7	January, 1911-December 31, 1911.	175
	8	January 2, 1912-January 16, 1913; October 30, 1916-November 7, 1916.	120
	9	Letters of Horten to August Thyssen. September 10, 1909-December 22, 1912.	100
	10	Correspondence of Fritz Thyssen and Horten . August 13, 1907-February 13, 1912.	80
	11	Correspondence of officials of Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser with Horten. December 31, 1906-October 14, 1913.	100
	12	Correspondence of Joseph Wirth and Wilhelm Cuno with Horten. January 29, 1924-September 24, 1926.	7
	13	Technical reports of mines and minerals, ca. 1905.	5