Dynamite factory Krümmel

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The water tower of the dynamite factory in its current condition

The dynamite factory Krümmel was Alfred Nobel's first explosives factory outside Sweden and was built in 1865 east of Geesthacht in Krümmel . Until the occupation by the Allies in 1945, explosives for civil and military use were produced here. The plant, together with the Düneberg powder factory to the west of Geesthacht, was long considered the powder chamber of Germany . After the end of the Second World War , the factory was shut down and dismantled for reparation purposes. The Helmholtz Research Center Geesthacht (HZG) and, since 1983, the Krümmel nuclear power plant have been located on parts of the former factory premises since 1956 .

founding

Alfred Nobel

After Alfred Nobel founded the company "Alfred Nobel & Co." in Hamburg on June 20, 1865 , he was looking for a suitable place to build an explosives factory to produce nitroglycerine . On October 10, 1865, Nobel finally acquired an approximately 42 hectare site near the village of Geesthacht , which was named Der Krümmel . Due to the hilly terrain, the low population and the proximity to the Elbe, it seemed particularly suitable to him.

After the production facilities were set up, the production of nitroglycerine began on April 1, 1866 with a workforce of 50. Just one month later, the systems were partially destroyed by the self-ignition of the sensitive explosives. However, it was rebuilt as early as August 1866. Then Nobel began in October 1866 to experiment on a raft in the river Elbe with nitroglycerine and various admixtures, he in the course consisting of nitroglycerin, diatomaceous earth and sodium carbonate , the dynamite developed, which was then produced in crumbs from the beginning of the 1867th Through constant expansion of the production facilities, the annual production could be increased from 11 tons in 1867 to 3,120 tons in 1874.

Development up to the First World War

As a second German plant, a factory in Schlebusch - Manfort (today Leverkusen ) was added. In 1875, during his research in Krümmel, Nobel discovered blasting gelatine , consisting of nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose soaked in collodion . This so-called gelatine dynamite exceeded the explosive effect of the previous dynamite powder and was also waterproof. The blasting gelatine was also produced in various degrees of strength in the Krümmel factory and replaced the black powder that had prevailed until then . In 1877, the Prague entrepreneur August Schram had an artificial fertilizer factory built next to the dynamite factory. As in his factory in Lissek near Prague, he obtained dynamite waste products as raw materials; Nitrite sulfuric acid was transported via a pipe from the dynamite factory to the fertilizer factory by means of compressed air, and it also processed sodium sulfate from the dynamite factory. The A. Schram company sold the Krümmel artificial fertilizer factory in November 1880 to Dynamit Nobel AG, which began expanding its sulfuric acid concentration systems on the site.

The previous Alfred Nobel & Co. was converted into a stock corporation in 1876 . In the new Hamburger Dynamit-Actien-Gesellschaft, formerly Alfred Nobel & Co. , or Dynamit AG (DAG) for short , Nobel was the majority shareholder until 1879 as chairman of the board and then until his death in 1896 as chairman of the supervisory board .

In 1888, the production of ballistite , a “smokeless gunpowder” that Nobel had developed on the basis of explosive gelatine, began in Krümmel . By 1910, the Krümmel dynamite factory had developed into the largest production facility for explosives in Europe. In addition to dynamite and ballistite, around 600 workers also produced ammonium nitrate , nitric acid and sulfuric acid here .

The First World War

The First World War led to a rapid expansion of the production facilities and an associated increase in production. In particular in the course of the Hindenburg program , the armaments program of the Supreme Army Command from 1916, a further 130 hectares of the dynamite factory site were purchased in order to build a new nitrocellulose factory. In the same year, the relocation of a siding ( Krümmelbahn ) from Geesthacht to Krümmel, which had long been demanded by the plant management , was completed, which connected the plant to the powder factory in Düneberg and the rail network of the Bergedorf-Geesthacht railway . The number of workers and employees in the Krümmel dynamite factory rose to over 2,750 by the end of the war.

Development up to the Second World War

With the end of the First World War, the factory facilities were partially dismantled from 1919, during which the new nitrocellulose factory and the sulfur and nitric acid factory were also dismantled. However, as early as 1920, safety explosives for civilian use were again being produced in the plant. In December 1921, the conversion of the nitrocellulose factory into a Vistra synthetic fiber factory began, but production stopped again in 1923. The production facilities for sulfur trioxide , which was required for the production of sulfuric acid , were also put into service in 1921 .

Until the National Socialists came to power in 1933, the number of employees fell from 500 (1928) to below 250 (1932) due to the global economic crisis . In 1933 only dynamite production, sulfuric acid production and a filling station for liquid ammonia were in operation .

The second World War

War production

The Krümmel dynamite factory was converted into an armaments factory again in 1934. This was accompanied by the most extensive expansions in the history of the plant. During the war, the plant was named a war model company, in which more than 9,000 workers and employees as well as voluntary foreign and forced laborers produced ammunition and explosives in three-shift operation . Around 300 buildings were erected by 1939 and another 450 buildings for military production by 1945. The factory premises were not allowed to be entered by outsiders. It fell under the "state secret within the meaning of § 88 Reichsgesetzbuch". “In 1945 the Krümmel factory consisted of 750 buildings. Greatest length from east to west 2.5 kilometers, from north to south two kilometers. The fence around the plant was 7.5 kilometers long ” .

In the production facilities were u. a. Nitrocellulose, powder raw material, dynamite, trinitrotoluene , hexogen , nitropenta and sulfuric acid are produced as raw materials for ammunition, with which on the factory premises u. a. Smoke, litter and mortar grenades as well as aerial bombs were filled. There were own filling stations, explosives press companies and plastics companies. The raw powder mass from the Krümmel works was further processed into powder types in the Düneberg powder factory.

In 1944 there was a direct passenger train connection from Hamburg Central Station to Krümmel. The journey time was 1 hour and the train ran several times a day.

Warehouse for the workers

11,270 workers from the Düneberg and Krümmel factories were housed in camps near the production facilities during the Second World War. The camps were called Spakenberg (for 1,500 German workers), Börnsen (in houses), Grenzstrasse (in barracks), Heidberg (in houses), Sandstrasse (in barracks), Grünhof (in barracks), Reichsstrasse (2,500 Soviet prisoners of war in barracks). After the war, refugees were sent to the empty camps. In the 1950s the camps were cleared and demolished.

Among the foreign workers were 3,800 "Eastern workers", 3,520 French, 1,375 Italian, 1,055 Dutch, 320 Poles and 177 Belgians. "If you take the population of 8,500 from 1940 as a basis and compare this with the number of 12,902 foreign workers and prisoners of war, you can see that almost 2/3 of all residents of Geesthacht were non-German" .

Bombing, production cessation, occupation

On April 7, 1945 there was a heavy air raid both on the Düneberg powder factory and on the Krümmel dynamite factory from 1:02 pm to 1:25 pm: About 1,000 bombs were dropped over the Krümmler factory premises, killing 82 in the plant and in the Place Krümmel claimed 26 dead. The air raids of April 7, 1945 led to the cessation of production in Krümmel and Düneberg. In the further course of April 1945, the transport, emergency repairs and emergency production were hampered by attacks by low-level aircraft, fire from grenades and bombing. From April 18 to April 23, 1945, the Krümmel plant temporarily produced 4,000 to 10,000 hand grenades per day, and on April 26, 1945 work finally came to a standstill. Krümmel was occupied by British troops on April 30, 1945 at 2:00 a.m. and the Krümmel dynamite factory was finally confiscated on November 30, 1945.

The end: dismantling and breaking up

On August 20, 1946, the complete dismantling of the plant began. The reparations were distributed to 13 nations. After the dismantling was completed on September 30, 1949, the blowing up of the production facilities began, which ended on September 11, 1950 after a total of 539 buildings had been destroyed. From May 15, 1951 to September 30, 1952, the site was cleared of explosives and chemicals by the ammunition clearance service of Schleswig-Holstein . From 1949 to 1965 the factory premises were sold to the parish of Grünhof-Tesperhude to build a church, Westdeutsche Quarzschmelze, Wilhelmsburger Maschinenfabrik, GKSS and HEW to build a nuclear power plant.

Dynamit Nobel AG , founded in 1949, is not the legal successor to Dynamit-Actien-Gesellschaft vorm. Alfred Nobel & Co (DAG).

Remains of the dynamite factory today

terrain

Despite the extensive dismantling and blasting work, some buildings of the Krümmel dynamite factory were able to be preserved. Other production facilities were blown up, but not cleared. Most of these remains are now in a fenced-off forest area, which is bounded in the north by today's federal highway 5 and in the south by the Krümmel nuclear power plant and the GKSS research center .

Preserved buildings

Former administration building of the dynamite factory
Administration building of the dynamite factory
The administration building was built in 1922 and is located in Krümmel on Nobelplatz. The building was converted into a residential building in the early 1950s. Here the company name “Dynamit-Actien-Gesellschaft” still shines on the gable of the front through the painting above.
Water tower of the nitrocellulose factory
The water tower was built as part of the Hindenburg program in 1916/1917 and served as a water reservoir for the nitrocellulose factory. The Förderkreis Industriemuseum Geesthacht eV is currently working to ensure that the building, which has not been used since the end of the dynamite factory, becomes a museum.
Busch fire station
The Busch fire station of the former plant fire brigade was built in 1940 and converted into the primary school Waldschule Grünhof in 1953 .
Warehouse of the dynamite factory on the GKSS site today

literature

  • Dynamit-Actien-Gesellschaft formerly Alfred Nobel & Co., Hamburg. In: Alexander Engel (Red.): Historisch-biographische Blätter. The State of Hamburg. Volume 7, delivery 4. Eckstein's Biographischer Verlag, Berlin et al. 1905/6.
  • Arne Andersen (Ed.), Environmental History. The example of Hamburg. Results-Verlag, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-925622-72-1 .
  • Karl Gruber: The crumb. Alfred Nobel's first dynamite factory. 2nd revised edition. Flügge-Printmedien, Geesthacht 1999, ISBN 3-923952-10-4 (chronology, building plan, historical photographs).
  • Karl Gruber: Alfred Nobel. The Krümmel dynamite factory - the cornerstone of a life's work. Flügge Printmedien, Geesthacht 2001, ISBN 3-923952-11-2 .
  • Janine Ullrich: Forced laborers and prisoners of war in Geesthacht, taking into account DAG Dünebeg and Krümmel 1939-1945. Lit Verlag, Münster in Westfalen et al. 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5730-1 . In: ( Series of publications by the Geesthacht City Archives (StaG) 12 = publications by the Hamburg Working Group for Regional History (HAR) 11), (At the same time: Hamburg, Univ., Master's thesis).

Web links

Commons : Dynamitfabrik Krümmel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolf-Rüdiger Busch: An accident seldom comes alone ... in A dream without end: Articles about the life and work of Alfred Bernhard Nobel from the 2001 anniversary year in Geesthacht . edited by William Boehart and Wolf-Rüdiger Busch, p. 125
  2. ↑ Karl Gruber: The crumb. Alfred Nobel's first dynamite factory . Flügge-Printmedien, 2nd revised edition, Geesthacht 1999, ISBN 3-923952-10-4 , p. 3.
  3. ↑ quoted from Karl Gruber: Der Krümmel. Alfred Nobel's first dynamite factory . Flügge-Printmedien, 2nd revised edition, Geesthacht 1999, ISBN 3-923952-10-4 , p. 76.
  4. ↑ Karl Gruber: The crumb. Alfred Nobel's first dynamite factory . Flügge-Printmedien, 2nd revised edition, Geesthacht 1999, ISBN 3-923952-10-4 , p. 76.
  5. ↑ Janine Ullrich: Forced laborers and prisoners of war in Geesthacht taking into account DAG Dünebeg and Krümmel 1939–1945. Lit. Verl. Münster in Westfalen, Hamburg, Berlin, London 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5730-1 . In: Series of publications by the Geesthacht City Archives (StaG), Vol. 12, pp. 27–28.
  6. ↑ Karl Gruber: The crumb. Alfred Nobel's first dynamite factory . Flügge-Printmedien, 2nd revised edition, Geesthacht 1999, ISBN 3-923952-10-4 , p. 90.
  7. ↑ Karl Gruber: The crumb. Alfred Nobel's first dynamite factory . Flügge-Printmedien, 2nd revised edition, Geesthacht 1999, ISBN 3-923952-10-4 , p. 112.
  8. ↑ Janine Ullrich: Forced laborers and prisoners of war in Geesthacht taking into account DAG Dünebeg and Krümmel 1939–1945. Lit. Verl. Münster in Westfalen, Hamburg, Berlin, London 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5730-1 . In: Series of publications by the Geesthacht City Archives (StaG), Vol. 12, p. 67
  9. ↑ Janine Ullrich: Forced laborers and prisoners of war in Geesthacht taking into account DAG Dünebeg and Krümmel 1939–1945. Lit. Verl. Münster in Westfalen, Hamburg, Berlin, London 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5730-1 . In: Series of publications by the Geesthacht City Archives (StaG), Vol. 12, p. 78
  10. ^ Strategic Air Attack on the German Powder, Explosives, and Propellants Industry. In Paragraph: Effects on Individual Plants: Dueneberg, Kruemmel, Tab 31 ( Memento from October 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on October 7, 2009.
  11. ^ W. Mittendorf: Geesthacht 25 years city. Printed by Wilhelm Matzke, Geesthacht 1949. p. 36.
  12. ↑ Karl Gruber: The crumb. Alfred Nobel's first dynamite factory . Flügge-Printmedien, 2nd revised edition, Geesthacht 1999, ISBN 3-923952-10-4 , pp. 61–63.
  13. ↑ Karl Gruber: The crumb. Alfred Nobel's first dynamite factory . Flügge-Printmedien, 2nd revised edition, Geesthacht 1999, ISBN 3-923952-10-4 , p. 76
  14. ↑ Janine Ullrich: Forced laborers and prisoners of war in Geesthacht taking into account DAG Dünebeg and Krümmel 1939–1945. Lit. Verl. Münster in Westfalen, Hamburg, Berlin, London 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5730-1 . In: Series of publications by the Geesthacht City Archives (StaG), Vol. 12, pp. 74–75.

Coordinates: 53 ° 24 ′ 31 ″  N , 10 ° 25 ′ 2 ″  E