industry construction founded 1874 headquarters essen germany key people marcelino fern ndez verdes ceo and chairman of the executive board manfred wennemer chairman of the supervisory board products construction services project management facility management revenue 20.16 billion 2010 1 operating income 715.3 million 2010 1 profit 288.0 million 2010 1 total assets 14.99 billion end 2010 1 total equity 4.264 billion end 2010 1 number of employees 70 657 average 2010 1 parent grupo acs website www.hochtief.com the fa ade of the greater temple at abu simbel moved to escape the rising nile . the cliff behind the temple is artificial and was created to allow the temple to be moved to a higher location . hochtief aktiengesellschaft is a german construction company based in essen north rhine westphalia germany . 2 hochtief is germany s largest construction company and operates globally ranking as one of the largest general construction companies in the united states through its turner subsidiary and in australia through a 53.43 % shareholding in cimic group . 3 in 2010 it employed more than 70 000 employees across five corporate divisions . one of these hochtief concessions is a major airport operator . the others are involved with construction project planning finance construction and operation . 2 work done in 2010 was 23.23 billion with more than 80 % coming from operations outside germany . 4 the company s history dates back to 1874 and includes engineering feats such as the transplantation of the abu simbel rock temples in egypt saving them from the rise of the river nile caused by the aswan high dam 5 and infrastructure projects like the new athens international airport 6 and germany s first nuclear power plant . 7 it is also noted for its involvement with the bauhaus movement 8 particularly for its work at zollverein colliery 9 and the reconstruction of the kandinsky klee house in dessau ; 10 both world heritage sites . during world war ii it deployed forced labor on construction projects . 11 it built the f hrerbunker in berlin the scene of adolf hitler s suicide as well as hitler s home in berghof and the wolfsschanze headquarters . 12 more recent constructions have included bosphorus bridge turkey 13 king abdulaziz international airport saudi arabia 14 and the messeturm 15 and commerzbank tower 16 in frankfurt . in late 2010 spanish construction company grupo acs which already owned a 30 percent stake of hochtief launched a bid that would allow acs to acquire an additional 20 percent stake of hochtief . the bid was approved by the german federal financial supervisory authority bafin on 29 november 2010 . 17 acs increased its stake in hochtief to 50.16 percent in june 2011 18 effectively taking over control of hochtief . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 after the helfmann brothers 1.3 from nazi germany to reconstruction 1.4 revival and international expansion 2 structure and ownership 3 timeline of notable construction projects 4 notes and references 5 external links history edit early years edit echelsbach bridge completed 1929 the company was probably founded in 1874 its first mention in the local address book as gebr der helfmann bauunternehmer by the kelsterbach born brothers philipp and balthasar helfmann a lumber merchant and mechanic respectively in bornheim near frankfurt am main . 19 while balthasar focused on the completion of construction contracts philipp developed the financing side of the business . 20 their first major contract was for the university of giessen in 1878 . 21 by the 1880s the company had begun to produce its own construction materials but was still only a regional player . 22 shortly after the death of balthasar philipp converted the company into a joint stock corporation aktiengesellschaft f r hoch und tiefbauten construction and civil engineering corporation though literally the corporation for high hoch and deep tief construction bauten . 23 a major development was the contract for the spa project in bad orb in 1899 with the corporation not simply erecting buildings but also to provide infrastructure like roads and gardens to arrange the finances for the project and to maintain some responsibilities for operating the project after its construction . 24 also in 1899 another turnkey project a new grain silo in genoa italy was both the firm s first international venture and its first project using reinforced concrete . 25 philipp helfmann died in the same year with his son in law hans weidmann taking over as chief executive . 26 after the helfmann brothers edit shaft xii at zollverein colliery was named schacht albert v gler . the bauhaus influenced design combined function with aesthetics . the firm grew rapidly but was not comparable with the major german construction concerns of the era . in 1921 it attracted investment from the industrialist hugo stinnes 27 described by time as the new emperor of germany for his wealth and influence and in 1922 the firm moved its base to essen as part of its integration into the stinnes group . 28 stinnes planned to use hochtief for all his construction projects while the hochtief saw an opportunity to profit from the treaty of versailles organising the delivery of construction materials to france as part of german reparations for world war i. 29 fate intervened as stinnes died in 1924 and within a year his industrial empire collapsed while the french occupation of the ruhr destroyed the chance to profit from the reparations contract that had been made with the french industrialist guy louis jean de lubersac . with the help of several banks the company now known as hochtief aktiengesellschaft f r hoch und tiefbauten vorm . gebr der helfmann avoided insolvency . in the aftermath of the stinnes collapse the major utility rwe and electrical equipment producer aeg became major share holders in hochtief and hans weidmann stepped down in 1927 . 30 a series of major construction projects ensued including the echelsbach bridge then germany s largest single span reinforced concrete bridge 31 the schluchsee dam 32 and work at the zollverein colliery . the zollverein architects fritz schupp and martin kremmer seem to be influenced by the bauhaus one of the reasons the complex became a unesco world heritage site . 9 the iconic shaft 12 at the colliery was named after albert v gler ceo of the vereinigte stahlwerke ag which was owner of the colliery since 1926 . 33 there was also canal work the moselle canal in france 34 and the albert canal in belgium . 35 from nazi germany to reconstruction edit a reconstruction of the layout of the f hrerbunker in berlin built by hochtief in 1943 . hitler committed suicide here during the battle of berlin in 1945 . under the third reich jewish members of the supervisory board were expelled under the nuremberg laws in 1935 . the ceo eugen v gler did not join the nazi party until 1937 however he did offer his services to the nazis as leader of the construction industry business group and took a position in the hitler youth . the construction business flourished under the four year plan with its vast public works programme including the autobahn network and the industrial build up in preparation for war for example the construction of a new truck factory for opel in brandenberg . hochtief also worked on a new centre for nazi rallies in nuremberg . in 1936 it moved its essen headquarters from the pferdemarkt to its current location in rellinghauser stra e. as war became imminent the company began work on the westwall defensive network . during world war ii it later worked on the atlantic wall defences and a range of infrastructure projects across german dominated europe . hochtief also constructed buildings for hitler himself notably his bavarian alpine retreat the berghof his wolf s lair headquarters in rastenburg and the f hrerbunker in berlin where hitler ultimately committed suicide . 12 after 1939 the firm began to use forced labour extensively on its projects as did many other german industrial concerns at the time . hochtief s slave workers suffered from malnutrition beating and constant abuse . 36 the consortium led nature of construction projects obscures the firm s exact involvement as does the destruction of many records . 11 during the closing stages of the war most of the company s branch offices were destroyed and employees in the east fled the soviet advance . the head office in essen suffered a direct hit from a bomb in march 1945 11 and regional offices and construction centres in danzig halle katowice k nigsberg krak w leipzig and magdeburg were lost as the territory they were in was allotted to poland or the soviet zone of occupation . as eugen v gler was on the run from the new authorities he was replaced as ceo by artur konrad . 37 during the initial post war period a shortage of machinery tools and materials as well as a dearth of new orders hampered operations . 38 some salvage work occurred as well as rubble clearance and basic repairs . one of the first rare major contracts was for a university hospital in bonn 1946 49 . the introduction of the german mark in 1948 and the beginning of the wirtschaftswunder brought more new work . 39 revival and international expansion edit the old and new positions of the abu simbel temples josef m ller took over as ceo in 1950 . a decision was taken to undertake more international projects following a period of essentially domestic work after world war ii . this included a series of power infrastructure works in turkey and bridge and smelting works construction in egypt during the early 1950s . it is interesting to note that many projects from this period were undertaken outside of the first world ; many were funded from development aid budgets . 39 a high profile success for the company came in the 1960s again in egypt . the rising waters of the river nile a result of the construction of the aswan high dam threatened the ancient abu simbel temple complex . the entire site was dismantled and reassembled 200 m further from the river and 65 m higher 5 at a cost of around us 36 million . 40 the radical messe torhaus in frankfurt with its guillotine . the focus of the company began to switch away from purely construction and towards more turnkey work and service provision for example the 1961 3 hilton hotel athens project . 7 most work was domestic driven by germany s strong economic growth with a particular strength in power plant construction . this included the construction of the federal republic of germany s first nuclear power plant kahl nuclear power plant near dettingen am main . 7 the construction contract had been awarded by aeg which had been commissioned by the utility company rwe to build the plant . the plant began to feed its electricity to the grid in june 1961 . 41 by contrast the first east german nuclear plant at rheinsberg was connected to the grid in 1966 . 42 there was also considerable transport infrastructure activity including on the hernandarias subfluvial tunnel argentina in the 1960s 43 and the new elbe tunnel in hamburg in the 1970s 44 by the mid 1970s foreign work such as the bosporus bridge in turkey completed 1974 13 was accelerating while domestic orders were receding according to the company s annual report of 1975 . by 1980 foreign work accounted for more than 50 % of hochtief s business . a major factor was the contract for king abdulaziz international airport completed 1981 the largest airport in saudi arabia and the most valuable contract hochtief had ever been involved with . 14 the architecture of the airport is highly rated aesthetically and it has several unusual features including