sickness, and death benefit insurance, company bakery and retail store, worker housing estates, and health care, all of which were slowly introduced beginning in 1836. Thyssen 1867: Establishment of Thyssen, Fossoul & Co. a company making hoop iron for barrels, crates, baling etc. 1871: Establishment of Thyssen & Co. in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany 1891: August Thyssen becomes the owner of the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser coal mine in Hamborn near Duisburg. One year earlier, the Thyssen company constructed a steel mill directly adjacent to one of the pits, thus Thyssen grows into an iron and steel mill with its own coal base. Wilhelminian period (1892–1917) Krupp 1893: Following the death of Alfred Krupp in 1887, Friedrich Alfred Krupp expands his father's enterprise with takeovers of additional steel mills and shipyards and construction of diesel engines in collaboration with Rudolf Diesel. 1899: With the acquisition of and/or increased investment in various coal mines (Hannibal colliery near Bochum and the Emscher-Lippe coal mine near Datteln) business development concentrates on vertical structures with the expansion of a coal base. 1903: Friedrich Alfred Krupp dies suddenly in 1902 at the age of 48 and his eldest daughter Bertha Krupp inherits the company. The company is converted into a stock corporation by the will of the late owner; Bertha retains all the stock. As she is still a minor, her mother Margarethe Krupp as guardian and proprietor takes over as the head of the company, managed by a board of directors. 1906: Bertha Krupp marries Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach who adds the Krupp name as a prefix to his own family name. He is appointed vice-chairman of the board and serves as chairman through 1943. 1912: Development of stainless, acid-resistant steels quickly finds application in the chemical and food processing industries, medicine, and building. The spire of New York's Chrysler Building is clad in the new stainless steel panels. 1917: The "Paris Gun" is developed with a range of . Thyssen 1895: Thyssen sets up integrated iron and steel mill with the construction of a blast furnace plant at the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser. Subsequent expansion is focused on vertical integration of the group. 1906: Intra-company trading and shipping organizations are established to facilitate the transport of iron ore to the blast furnace plants. In 1910, the N.V. Handels- en Transport Maatschappij Vulcaan ocean shipping company is established in Rotterdam to keep the Thyssen