METALLGESELLSCHAFT A.G., a German company, was founded in 1881, by Mr. William Merton, as a limited company, taking over the metal business of the private firm Philipp Abraham Cohen established in the beginning of the 19th century. Because of its dealings in metals, ores, pyrites, etc., the Company took interests in mining enterprises as well as in smelt ing works and metal manufactories. During several years a spe cial company, the Metallbank and Metallurgische Gesellschaft A.G. conducted the technical and financial part of the business, but in 1928 the two companies were amalgamated under the name of Metallgesellschaft A.G.
The Metallgesellschaft with its branch offices and its foreign connections is one of the most important metal concerns in the world. The war caused considerable changes in its foreign re lations, and untiring efforts had to be made to regain for the Com pany its former strength. New connections had to be built up, new fields of business had to be looked for; the industrial activ ity of the Company is much greater now than before the World War.
Metallgesellschaft A.G. is carrying on wholesale trade in non ferrous metals, in ores, and in certain chemicals connected with the metal industry. A great deal of the copper, tin, spelter, lead,
and aluminium dealt with are produced either in its own smelters or smelters under its control, such as Norddeutsche Affinerie in Hamburg, Berzelius on the Rhine, Hans-Heinrich-Hiitte in the Harz, etc. In its own works at Heddernheim, Mannheim, Co logne, Nuremberg, etc., copper, brass, aluminium, and lead are being manufactured. Particular attention is concentrated on the production and propagation of light metals (aluminium alloys). Large research laboratories are keeping up to date the technical processes concerning the concentration and smelting of ores and the refining and manufacturing of metals. Branch ("Lurgi") companies are used for the exploitation of technical processes concerning chemistry and metallurgy.
The present capital of the Company is 76,000,000 Reichsmark. Its headquarters are in Frankfurt-on-Main, and it is represented in all big commercial centres of the world. (S. Au.)