As a result of a multi-volume research project, funded by the Thyssen Foundations (Stiftung zur Industriegeschichte Thyssen and Fritz Thyssen Stiftung), ten books were published that served to greatly advance the available knowledge on the Thyssen family and their companies. The results of this project are summarized in this volume which provides both an explanation of how the project was conceptualized and executed and a detailed case study of a family and their business during the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It explains the development of both whilst addressing issues such as patriarchal succession; gender roles in the family; wealthy lifestyles in international communities of aristocrats and diplomats; operating across national legislation, institutions, and policies; and discussions of labor and capital. In doing so it connects corporate and family history to provide an all-inclusive view of the development of a business.

Günther Schulz is Professor Emeritus for Constitutional, Social and Economic History at the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn. His research focuses on social and economic history from the early 19th century. As part of the research network for the "Thyssen Entrepreneurial Family in the 20th Century", he oversaw the production of six company history research projects. His most recent publication as editor is Die Entstehung der modernen Sparkasse. Von der ‚Ersparnisanstalt‘ zum marktorientierten Unternehmen (1950s to 1980s) (Deutscher Sparkassenvlg.G, 2022).

Margit Szöllösi-Janze holds the Chair of Contemporary History at the Department of History at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Her research interests include the history of: National Socialism and fascism, science and universities, the media, and violence. She was involved in the creation of the "Thyssen Entrepreneurial Family in the 20th Century" research network and she supervised the three family history research projects. Her most recent publication is "Archäologie des Wettbewerbs. Konkurrenz in und zwischen Universitäten in (West-) Deutschland seit den 1980er Jahren”, in Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 69 (De Gruyter, 2021).