Dessau sugar refinery
The Dessauer sugar refinery GmbH was a company in Dessau , the first sugar from molasses produced and developed at the beginning of the 1920s in a general chemical company. It was the main manufacturer of Zyklon B , a disinfestation product that was also used for mass murder in National Socialist extermination camps . After the company had been continued in the GDR after the Second World War, it was finally dissolved in 2003.
history
Maximilian and Emil Fleischer founded the Dessau sugar refinery on shares in 1871 in order to extract sugar from molasses using the Strontian process . In 1895 the stock corporation was converted into Dessauer Zuckerraffinerie GmbH and the Strontian- und Potasche-Fabrik Rosslau aE branch was founded. From 1896, ferrocyanodium was also produced from nitrogen compounds in stillage , a waste product of molasses desugarization .
After the First World War, the Dessau sugar refinery was supposed to process the hydrogen cyanide produced in the Contigas gas works in Dessau during the production of luminous gas . To this end, the Dessauer Werke für Zucker- und Chemische Industrie AG was founded on September 11, 1921 , the subsidiary of which was the Dessauer Zuckerraffinerie GmbH . The reason for this was the further financing of companies with around 1,600 employees. In 1922 Degesch conducted negotiations with Dessauer Zuckerraffinerie GmbH about the production of the Zyklon B. After the construction of the first plant, the tests began on April 18, 1924. On November 12, 1924, the authorities approved the manufacture. The procedure description can be found in the files of the trade police:
“The new process differs from the previous binding of hydrogen cyanide to sodium or potassium salts, however, only in that the liquid hydrogen cyanide is placed under lock and key in sealed metal cans filled with diatomite and is absorbed by the diatomite. While evaporation of the hydrogen cyanide due to chemical bonding is excluded with the finished cyan salts of the old system, this is not the case with the new pesticide, but the effectiveness of this agent is based on the rapid escape of the hydrogen cyanide absorbed by the diatomaceous earth, which, as far as it is a question of closed rooms, inhalation can lead to the most serious consequences. "
In a contract between Degussa , Degesch and the Dessau sugar refinery dated November 26, 1927, the aim was to produce 100,000 kg per month, which meant an increase in production. In 1928, therefore, an application was made to the Dessau Trade Inspectorate to expand the hall.
From 1929 on, further investments were made: Zucker-Raffinerie Hildesheim GmbH (50%), Louisen-Grube Kohlenwerk und Ziegelei AG Bitterfeld (32%), Gebrüder Dippe AG Quedlinburg (25%), Zuckerfabrik Glauzig (27%) and Löwenwerke AG Heilbronn (55%).
The only buyer of Zyklon B was Degesch, who was also the patent holder. It also provided equipment and machines. Zyklon B was manufactured in Dessau with and without the addition of warning substances. The product was produced for the fumigation of mills, ships, cold stores and for delousing in mass accommodation. For the war industry alone, the demand was estimated at 80 tons in 1943. In 1943 exports went to Turkey , Switzerland and Sweden . Zyklon B was also used for mass murder from 1942 - mainly in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp .
At that time, Wilhelm Cramer was the general director of the Dessau Works for Sugar and Chemical Industry AG .
Continuation after the Second World War
In 1948, the company, which was completely destroyed in an air raid on March 7, 1945, was expropriated and then produced under the name VVB Sugar Refinery Dessau . In 1951 the hydrocyanic acid plant was rebuilt; From 1952, the company produced the preparation as “Cyanol” pesticide as VEB Gärtschemie Dessau , popularly known as Fine , until 1969. After that, production was transferred to Schwedt .
In order to be able to access its investments in western Germany, the company headquarters of the AG was relocated to Braunschweig in 1949 and then to Hanover in 1958. There one participated u. a. to the banks Nicolai & Co. Hannover and Creditfinanz Hamburg G. Fischer & Co. Hamburg . In 1966 the AG was converted into a GmbH.
In 1950 sugar production was finally stopped in favor of ethanol production
From 1952, barium was also extracted and barium compounds processed in a department .
From 1954, the carbon dioxide produced in sugar production was marketed independently.
In 1992 the company was taken over by a consortium from the region and privatized.
While Gärtschemie Dessau GmbH mainly dealt with leasing the factory premises to smaller companies from 1992 to 2010, the ethanol and casein business was continued under the name BIOMEL GmbH Dessau Molasses Distillery.
In 2011 the business fields were merged again to form Dessau Fermentation Chemistry.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Herbert Bode: From an innovation and its abuse: Zyklon B . In: Mitteilungen, Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker . tape 18 , 2005, ISSN 0934-8506 ( online [PDF]).
- ↑ Herbert Bode: About the production of Zyklon B in Dessau. ( Memento from January 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Lecture from February 10, 2003.
- ↑ Deutsche Bank Annual Report 1940. Accessed July 1, 2017 (PDF; 2.2 MB).
- ↑ Deutsche Bank Annual Report 1935. Accessed July 1, 2017 (PDF; 1.9 MB).
- ↑ Silvia Bürkmann: Economy in Dessau: A delicate touch of "fine". In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung . April 23, 2014, accessed July 1, 2017 .
- ↑ Shareholdings - Securities - Historic stocks and bonds. In: gutowski.de. Retrieved July 1, 2017 .
- ^ History - Fermentation Chemicals Dessau GmbH. Retrieved March 4, 2019 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 49 ′ 27.2 " N , 12 ° 13 ′ 55" E