Defending the municipal electric services against privatization : a case study of Frankfurt am Main during the Weimar period

It has been generally assumed in the study of German urban history that the municipal electric services were brought to an end by the growth of regional power networks during the Weimar period. However, municipal electric services were not completely replaced by regional power systems. So, this paper examines, on the basis of a case study of Frankfurt am Main, how the municipal electric services were able to sustain themselves as an autonomous system against the expanding influence of regional power networks based on private capital during the Weimar period. Frankfurt tried not only to enlarge its power stations but also to utilize the waterpower and brown coal obtained nearby the city, with a view to defending its autonomy against the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG. These attempts enabled Frankfurt to preserve its autonomous electric services until the second half of the 20th century, though it owed a lot to the assistance from Preussenelektra, the national electric power company of Prussia.

一橋大学大学院経済学研究科

2014-09

English(eng)

technical report

VoR

21

Discussion papers / Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University

https://hdl.handle.net/10086/26833