Chemical factory Landshoff & Meyer
The Chemische Fabrik Landshoff & Meyer , later Chemische Fabrik Grünau (CFG) , was a company for the manufacture of chemical products in Berlin .
Company history
The company was founded in 1884 by the two chemists Ludwig Landshoff (1854–1926) and Paul Joachim Meyer (1853–1918) in what was then the Berlin suburb of Grünau on the banks of the Dahme . The two founders studied chemistry with August Wilhelm Hofmann in Berlin .
In the immediate vicinity of Landshoff & Meyer there were other manufacturing chemical companies, e.g. B. Balzer & Co. Gradually, Landshoff & Meyer took over all of the smaller chemical companies at the site.
Chemische Fabrik Landshoff & Meyer originally produced organic primary products for paint production. Naphthol and naphthylamine were the main products, naphthalene , thiosulfate and sulphurous acid by-products. More products were gradually added to the production program or were added by taking over neighboring companies.
During the First World War , the production of detergents from protein degradation products began, mainly for the textile industry. The raw material was leather waste. Chemicals for the construction industry, such as concrete sealants, were also added.
In 1921 Degussa took over a majority stake in Chemischen Fabrik Grünau AG. In addition to the majority shareholder Degussa, the Jewish founding family Meyer still held 12% of the shares in Chemische Fabrik Grünau in the 1930s. Viktor and Theo Meyer, two grandsons of one of the founders, were also on the company's board of directors. Her father Paul Meyer was on the supervisory board.
As part of the aryanization policy during the National Socialist regime, Degussa came under pressure in 1937 to force its Jewish partners out of the company. In 1938 the Meyers left the company and sold their shares to Degussa. In 1939, the Grünau chemical factory had around 270 employees, and the area of the company property used was 100,000 m². During the Second World War , about 60% of the plant was destroyed in a targeted air raid on the Grünau chemical factory on January 27, 1944.
After the Second World War, there was extensive dismantling of technical equipment in the Grünau chemical factory, as in many industrial plants in the Soviet area. Nevertheless, the provisional resumption of production took place on June 18, 1945. The previous stock corporation was placed under trust management and finally expropriated in 1947. From 1949 the company traded as VEB Chemische Fabrik Grünau, later the name was VEB Chemisches Werk Berlin-Grünau.
The pre-war production profile was retained and further developed. Products were building aids, such as the “Silicate 66” coating or concrete setting retarders, such as those used for. B. were used in the construction of the Berlin television tower. In addition, the pharmaceutical products division was expanded. Since pharmaceutical production became more and more the mainstay of the company, it was incorporated into VEB Berlin-Chemie in 1967 .
The end of the GDR also meant the end of the run-down chemical factory, which was finally closed in 1995. The demolition work began, and extensive renovation of the deeply contaminated property was essential. After the renovation of the former premises, which was completed in 2011, nothing reminded of the chemical company previously located here.
Since 2015 the new residential quarter "52 ° Nord" with planned up to 800 apartments has been built on the site. The foundation stone was laid on September 17, 2015.
literature
- Alexander Kraft: Chemische Fabrik Grünau In: Chemistry in Berlin. History, traces, personalities. Berlin Story Verlag, Berlin 2012, pp. 151–154.
- Chemistry forum Erkner to the chemical factory Grünau
Web links
- Newspaper article about Chemische Fabrik Landshoff & Meyer in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Foundation stone laid for largest BUWOG project development Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 52 ° 25 ′ 36.4 ″ N , 13 ° 34 ′ 30.6 ″ E