BIAG future
BIAG Zukunft was the "Braunkohlen-Industrie-Aktien-Gesellschaft Zukunft" in the east of the Aachen coal field with its headquarters in Eschweiler .
history
In 1819 lignite was found on the manor of Baron von Goltstein in Lucherberg near Inden between Jülich and Eschweiler. In 1826 the "Goltstein-Grube" started operations with an annual production of 100,000 to 150,000 bricks . It was shut down in 1869. The Goltsteinkuppe and "Goltsteinstraße" between Lucherberg and Lamersdorf still remind of them today. The Indemann , the symbol of the Indeland , was built on the Goltsteinkuppe in 2009 .
From 1839 to 1841 a number of lignite deposits were cut during the construction of the Cologne - Düren - Aachen railway line , and in 1860 the mining of lignite began in Niederbardenberg (today a district of Herzogenrath ). The pit was later named "Maria Theresia" and was taken over by BIAG Zukunft.
Several concessions had been applied for by 1898 and coal was extracted in underground mining with a production of up to 2500 t per year. In 1897, the “Lucherberg Union” began again with the dismantling and production of briquettes and by 1909 had won 75,000 t of briquettes. In 1907 the first cutting excavator - the so-called "Iron Bergmann" - was used in the Ville west of Cologne.
Foundation of BIAG Zukunft
On February 7, 1913, the Braunkohlen-Industrie-AG (BIAG) Zukunft was founded as a merger of various trade unions. The fixed assets amounted to 7.5 million Reichsmarks , and their goal was to build an electricity station . In 1915 BIAG Zukunft was relocated from Cologne to Eschweiler in the building of the former Kirschenhof on the corner of Dürener- / Parkstraße. In 1957, the headquarters of BIAG Zukunft moved within Eschweiler from the Kirschenhof building to the new building on Peter-Paul-Straße, just a few 100 meters away. Since 2000, after BIAG Zukunft moved out, the building became the so-called “City House” with the branch of the Eschweiler District Court as well as several service companies and legal practices.
The Rheinisch-Westfälische Elektrizitätswerk (RWE) acquired in 1922 the majority interest in BIAG future, what in the west of the Rhineland had its own power plant. In 1935 the 20 was hectare large open pit field "future-West" between Kinzweiler and Weisweiler developed, with extensive agricultural land were claimed. An amendment to the “General German Mining Act” made it possible in 1937 to relocate entire villages such as Erberich , Langendorf , Langweiler , Laurenzberg , Lohn , Lürken , Pattern and Pützlohn . During the Second World War in 1944 the coal was on fire due to the fighting for Aachen, Eschweiler and Weisweiler, and the power station had to be shut down. In 1948 the "Verein Rheinische Braunkohlenwerke e. V. “, to which 14 companies merged, and on April 25, 1950 the law on overall planning in the Rhenish lignite area (Braunkohlengesetz BrKG) and the establishment of the lignite committee (BKA) as a planning committee for the lignite area came into force. The restoration has been regulated by law. In 1950 BIAG Zukunft had an annual output of 5 million t and a briquetting capacity of 1 million t. The reservoir conditions forced a rethink this year, the decision was made to use a few large opencast mines in the form of deep opencast mines and a new mining concept was developed until 2000. This decision resulted in a greater need for space and meant the relocation of further villages and the subsequent recultivation of the opencast mining areas.
In 1955, the first 100,000 excavator was used in the “Fortuna” open-cast mine ; In addition, the Weisweiler power station was built, a lignite power station with six units and a base load of 2093 megawatts of net electricity generation. In 1956, agricultural recultivation began in the former “Zukunft-West” open-cast mine.
Foundation of Rheinbraun
In 1959 and 1960 the "Rheinische Braunkohlenwerke AG" was founded : fifteen different lignite mining companies merged or were bought up by larger companies. The merger of the four large lignite companies was the culmination of this development. In 1960 the "Rheinische Aktiengesellschaft für Braunkohlebergbau und Briquettfabrikation" in Cologne (RAG), the " Braunkohlen- und Briquettwerke Roddergrube AG " in Brühl , the BIAG Zukunft in Eschweiler and the "Braunkohlenwerke Neurath AG" in Düsseldorf became the "Rheinische Braunkohlenwerke AG" ( Rheinbraun) with headquarters in Cologne.
On May 10, 1962, the resettlement area for Lohn / Pützlohn was determined in connection with the “Zukunft-West” opencast mine. In addition, the land consolidation procedure for Hehlrath followed . On July 6, 1966 the resettlement areas for Langweiler were determined, in 1974 the land consolidation procedure for Kinzweiler, 1982 for Warden / Niedermerz and 1984 for Fronhoven / Lohn ( Neu-Lohn ). In 1969 the mining in the open pit "Maria Theresia" ended.
From October 1963, Director Köhler (Frechen) was appointed head of the combined Future / Inden plant areas and at the same time appointed deputy group director of Group West. At the same time, Director Thiede (Inden) took over the management of the Frechen opencast mine. From October 1963 Director Freckmann (future) was entrusted with special tasks in the group administration south.
On July 1, 1966, the North and Central Group was merged into a group called the "North-Central Group". Operations director Freckmann took over the management of the drilling and water management division (BOWA).
On November 12, 1979, Rheinbraun applied for a declaration of liability for the Inden opencast mine northeast of Eschweiler, and the State Planning Act with integrated lignite planning dates from the 28th of the same month. From April 13th to May 25th 1982 the public display of the draft lignite plan "Future West", from April 26th to June 26th 1982 the public display of the draft lignite plan "Inden I". Both plans were approved on June 24, 1983, as was the Inden II lignite plan on January 23, 1989 .
Franz Gessen
Franz Gessen (born March 26, 1891 Eschweiler-Hehlrath, † November 11, 1969 ibid) was the long-term Labor Director of BIAG “Future”. In recognition of the works aid in the construction of company apartments, "Franz-Gessen-Straße" was named after him in Weisweiler in 1957 .