"Karl Albrecht was the billionaire entrepreneur who with his brother, Theo Albrecht, created the successful international discount supermarket chain, Aldi. At the time of his death he was the richest person in Germany, with an estimated fortune of around $26 billion. He was born in 1920 in Schonnebeck, a suburb of Essen, in the industrial Ruhr area of Germany. His father, also Karl, was a miner who became a baker after contracting emphysema. His mother, Anna Siepmann, ran a grocery store which she had established in 1913. The brothers worked in the shop as youngsters, inspiring and anticipating their future business activities. On the outbreak of war they were conscripted into the Wehrmacht. Theo served in the Afrika Korps and was captured by the US Army in Tunisia in 1943, while Karl was wounded on the Russian front and also ended up in a prisoner-of-war camp. Released and returned to their badly damaged city, the brothers took over their mother's shop, which had escaped the worst of the bombing. Within seven years they had expanded to a chain of 30 grocery stores across the region, up and down the Rhine. Their aim was to offer a limited range of inexpensive but high-quality products, with the motto "The best quality at the lowest price". This remained a life-long mission for the pair, who were able to turn their ideals into reality, as pioneers in their field." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/karl-albrecht-businessman-who-with-his-brother-theo-established-the-aldi-discount-supermarket-chain-as-a-global-market-leader-9624371.html
