The place was Vienna. The two leading actors were named Alfred Krupp and Alexander Schoeller. On behalf of the companies "Friedrich Krupp, Essen/Rhine-Prussia" and "Alexander Schoeller, "Imperially licenced" wholesalers in Vienna", they signed the Articles of Association for a joint venture: the Berndorf Metalware Company.
The first point in the official company documents stated: "in the vicinity of Vienna, Mr. Alexander Schoeller establishes, under the name "Imperially Licenced Metalware Factory", a factory using water power for rolling sheets made of an alloy called "Packfong" (or German silver) or other metals for sale or for toll, and for producing spoons and forks made from this "packfong", and takes the company, Friedrich Krupp, Essen, as a silent partner in this enterprise.
Already at this point, the motivation of the two partners was quite clear : Alexander Schoeller, an offspring of the extremely successful Schoeller family in the lands of the Austrian Monarchy, was looking for favourable investment outlets for his substantial financial resources. Alfred Krupp was looking for a financier so he could introduce the spoon-rolling mill which had been recently developed by the company, Friedrich Krupp, Essen, for the industrial production of cutlery. While Schoeller took over all the expenses for the installation of the new factory, Alfred Krupp took care of the complete technical management of their joint venture.