Steam sawmill and box factory Winkler and Spreer
Steam sawmill and box factory Winkler and Spreer was a company in Grimma ( Großbothen ).
history
In 1909 the "Steam sawmill and box factory Winkler and Spreer" was founded as a general partnership by Richard Franz Spreer from Tanndorf and the timber merchant Karl Robert Winkler from Seidewitz . The line of business initially comprised the timber trade, contract cutting and the production of boxes of all kinds. Half a year later, Karl Robert Winkler left the company, so that Spreer became the sole managing director and continued the work under the name "Steam saw mill and box factory Franz Spreer".
At that time there were 30 employees in the plant. Five full frame saws, a horizontal saw, several circular and pendulum saws, a planing machine and an elevator were powered by a 250 hp steam engine, which in turn was powered by two steam boilers. In addition, the plant had a drying chamber, which made it possible to artificially dry large quantities of wood using the waste heat from the steam boiler for further processing. A rail system leading to the nearby train station made the sawmill efficient, as the raw materials for the factory could be brought into the factory halls by the freight train with its own horse and cart. Among other things, boxes were produced here for the Colditz porcelain factory and the stoneware factory in Colditz.
On the night of July 5th to 6th, 1925, the gate hall belonging to the plant burned down. Thanks to the rapid deployment of the fire brigades in the surrounding villages, as well as the factory fire brigade of the fireclay factory Kreisel from Großbothen, the steam engine hall, the boiler house and the box factory could be saved. The gate hall was rebuilt to be more modern and larger, a new planing hall and new frame saws were added, of which a copy from the Linck company is still functional today.
In the course of the reparations payments after the Second World War, the two largest gang saws were dismantled after 1945 and taken to Russia by train. The factory itself initially remained in family ownership.
Later, the name of the plant was gradually changed to “Franz Spreer KG mit Staatliche Zusammenarbeit” and from July 1, 1961 it was incorporated into the VEB “Kistenbau Leipzig” of the GDR. Now mainly boxes with special dimensions were built for import and export to the GDR and USSR. In 1970 the old steam engine was completely replaced by new engines. Parts of it are preserved in the factory's basement.
In 1991 the plant came back into the possession of the Spreer family and from then on was continued as "Kistenbau Grossbothen - Alfred Spreer & Sohn GmbH". The factory was modernized again and realigned. They continued to specialize in box construction and timber trading.
In 2016 the steam sawmill was sold. The new owner renovated the factory halls, expanded the gate hall and box factory into a furniture joinery and renamed the factory the "Großbothen steam sawmill".
Coordinates: 51 ° 10 ′ 59.7 ″ N , 12 ° 45 ′ 48.3 ″ E ,