Albert Ballin

Albert Ballin by Bernhard Huldermann. MY principal reason for publishing the information contained in this volume is to keep alive the memory of Albert Ballin. I particularly desire to show what was his share in bringing about the economic advance of Germany during the golden age of the Empire’s modern history, and to relate how he—unsuccessfully, alas!—strove to prevent the proud structure which he had helped to raise, from falling to ruin in the time of his country’s distress. I believe that much that concerns the latter aspect of his work will be new to most readers. In spite of all that has been said and written concerning the political activities which Ballin displayed (and is alleged to have displayed) both before and during the war, their object—and, more important still, their intimate connexion with his economic activities—is scarcely known. Eminently successful though Ballin had been in creating an atmosphere of mutual understanding between the various nations in the economic sphere, his attempts to reconcile the contending ambitions of those same nations where politics were concerned ended in failure. And yet it is impossible to understand his failure in one respect without first understanding his success in the other; indeed, the connexion between the two sides of his work forms the key to the character of the man and to the historical significance of his achievements.It is possible that this volume may shed some new light on the causes of Germany’s collapse; this idea, at any rate, was before my mind when I decided upon publication. Frederick the Great somewhere remarked that, to the great loss of mankind, the experiences gained by one generation are always useless to the next, and that each generation is fated to make its own mistakes. If this is true, it is nevertheless to be hoped that Germany, considering the magnitude of the disaster that has overtaken her, will not allow the spirit of resignation implied by this remark to determine her actions in the present case.In thus submitting to the public the information contained in this book, I am carrying out the behest of the deceased, who asked me to collect his papers, and to make whatever use I thought fit of them. Moreover, the fact that I had the privilege of being his collaborator for more than ten years gives me perhaps a special right to undertake this task.My best thanks are due to Director A. Storm for supplying me with material illustrative of Ballin’s early career; to Chief Inspector Emil F. Kirchheim for assistance with the technical details, and to Professor Francke, who was on intimate terms of friendship with Ballin during a number of years, for information concerning many matters relative to Ballin’s personal character.My constant endeavour has been to describe persons and events sine ira et studio, and to refrain from stating as a fact anything for which no documentary evidence is available.