German Norton

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Former German Norton
Former German Norton

The German Norton Gesellschaft mbH was a subsidiary of US-based abrasives manufacturer Norton Co. of Worcester in Massachusetts .

The company was located directly on the Rheinuferbahn south of Wesseling . The empty factory buildings are still preserved today as abandoned industrial ruins.

history

Deutsche Norton was founded in 1909 under the direction of Alfred Heinrich Schütte . On July 1, 1910, the company started operations with 60 workers. With numerous round and tunnel kilns , the company produced various grinding products and refractory products.

During the period of National Socialism , the company employed several hundred foreign and forced laborers from East Central Europe who were housed in a barrack camp. The area known as the south warehouse was located about 200 meters south of the company premises. Another so-called Rhine camp was located directly on the banks of the Rhine on the site of the former Union fuel . Towards the end of the Second World War , about 15 percent of the factory building was destroyed by bombing.

After the Second World War, the company enjoyed a flourishing boom due to an ever greater demand for abrasive products. The factory expanded, machine halls and administration buildings were added, new machines and equipment were purchased, and the workforce grew steadily. From the 1970s, Deutsche Norton also dealt with the manufacture of highly refractory products, for example so-called plate capsule blanks for burning porcelain plates. As one of the leading manufacturers of abrasives and highly refractory special products, the company's name has long been known and recognized worldwide.

In 1990 Norton Co. in Worcester and thus also Deutsche Norton GmbH were bought up by the French company Saint-Gobain with headquarters in Courbevoie . As a result, the subsidiary in Wesseling was closed in 1992. Of the last 160 employees, 50 were transferred to a branch office of Saint-Gobain, and a further 20 employees were housed with a subsidiary of the group in the Cologne district of Porz . The remaining 90 employees were laid off. A branch of Saint-Gobain is also based in Wesseling with an abrasives production plant, but at a different location.

Situation today

Since the closure, the former factory site and the buildings on it have been visibly neglected. The entire site has been owned by a private owner from Cologne for several years . In the past, the city of Wesseling sought several solutions and made attempts to make other sensible use of the fallow former site. Numerous attempts at a solution between the city administration and the owner have failed. In 2015 it was announced that there was a new investor who was interested in the entire area.

Every now and then the area is used as a backdrop for filming .

Products

  • All kinds of grinding wheels
  • Diamond saws, stone saws and cutoff saws
  • Sandpaper and abrasive cloth
  • Abrasives in ceramic, silicate and synthetic resin bonds
  • Adhesive tapes, cutting machines and floor cutters
  • Refractory ceramic products such as burner capsules

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ worcesterhistory.org ( Memento from August 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) The detailed Norton history in English in the Worcester Historical Museum (USA)
  2. ^ J. Dietz: Heimatbuch Wesseling. 1962, p. 335.
  3. ↑ historicum.net Rhine-Erft-Rur region and the use of forced labor
  4. ↑ historicum.net Labor input in industry
  5. ↑ historicum.net Overview of barrack camps
  6. ↑ historicum.net ( Memento from February 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Photo: Norton Application for the establishment of a barracks camp
  7. ↑ historicum.net ( memento of October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Photo: The Wesseling southern camp
  8. ↑ historicum.net ( memento of October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Photo: Rheinlager Wesseling - view 1
  9. ↑ historicum.net ( memento of October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Photo: Rheinlager Wesseling - view 2
  10. ↑ saint-gobain.de ( Memento from September 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) About us - The Saint-Gobain history
  11. ^ Wesselinger Heimatblätter. No. 19/1992, p. 21.
  12. ↑ Detonated: Two fires almost at the same time. October 13, 2008, archived from the original on September 6, 2012 ; accessed on April 14, 2019 .
  13. ^ Industrial ruins in Wesseling: Investor for Norton site in sight. rundschau-online.de, accessed on October 12, 2015 .
  14. ↑ norton-schleifmittel.de Overview of Norton grinding products.

Coordinates: 50 ° 49 ′ 4.03 "  N , 6 ° 59 ′ 22.06"  E