Franz Weeren ironworks
| Franz Weeren ironworks
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| legal form | Open trading company (OHG) |
| founding | October 1, 1887 |
| resolution | November 1983 |
| Reason for dissolution | Decline in production, competition |
| Seat | Berlin-Neukölln , Germany |
| Branch | metallurgy |
The Franz Weeren ironworks was a family business in Berlin-Neukölln . From its founding on October 1, 1887 to 1912, the company had different names. It has made a name for itself with the development and manufacture of cast iron goods, in particular with the manufacture of cast iron church bells in the 1950s . After the closure in November 1983, the associated factory owner's villa was converted into an inn over a period of four years . The former factory was used as a bowling alley at times. The entire factory area has been a listed building since 1987 .
Expansion of a foundry between 1887 and 1920
Märkische Stahl- und Eisengießerei F. Weeren
On October 1, 1887, the engineer Franz Weeren (born April 14, 1858 in Witten an der Ruhr; † 1934), until then owner of a design office for the metallurgical and chemical industry , took over a small foundry in the basement of a Berlin rental house at 7 Büschingstrasse who worked for his design office. The first casting under Weeren's direction took place on November 12, 1887. Weeren was familiar with iron casting from a young age. Before his appointment as professor of metallurgy at the newly founded Technical University of Charlottenburg, his father Julius Weeren ran a foundry in Witten. After the two companies were merged, the foundry flourished and construction activities faded more and more into the background. In 1889, the company acquired the first plot of land (plot 37) in what was then Rixdorf between Delbrückstrasse and Glasowstrasse , and the move could be planned. With the inauguration of a new workshop , the first iron foundry in Rixdorf started operations on November 12, 1889. A few years later, the name was changed to Märkische Stahl- und Eisengießerei F. Weeren . Among the best-known products were steels for grates . The first expansion took place through the purchase of neighboring properties (Delbrückstrasse 42, 43). Construction of the production and administration buildings began in the same year. A short time later, the municipal administration renumbered the parcels, so that Delbrückstrasse 39 emerged from plots 37 and 38, while the corner plot Delbrückstrasse 39-41 became Glasowstrasse 27 (later spelling correction to Glasower Strasse). The foundry successfully exhibited its metal products at the Berlin trade exhibition in 1896 .
Production of Berlin building panels
With the new production facilities, an additional production branch was set up from 1898, the manufacture of "Berlin building boards". These were cast-iron foundation plates for industrial construction . The company's technicians developed a special machine for the mass production of these products: a round workbench on which it was possible to continuously shape, pour, cool and recycle the molding sand . This machine was called the carousel and was used until 1924. Up to the First World War , 4,000 tons of cast iron could be produced annually. Two large production halls were available for this, with casting and iron casting each taking place in a separate hall. The factory area grew from 1,755 m² to 3,219 m² by 1915 with the expansion of the production hall with a steel framework construction with a glass gable roof . The cast materials to be melted down and the coke were transported from the yard to the furnace on self-cast rails and self-produced trucks . Handcarts and wooden cranes were also used inside the hall . 1905 on the grounds of Weerens designs a villa in Art Nouveau style built, surrounded by a garden with a lily pond provided. Franz Weeren had previously lived at Rixdorfer Bergstrasse 76/77. From 1912, alternative fuels ( peat and lignite ) were used for the first time to the previous coke , with lignite gaining acceptance in the 1920s. In connection with the renaming of the Berlin district to Neukölln, the company management now renamed itself Eisenwerk Franz Weeren OHG , and it was assigned to Glasowerstrasse.
Production changeover from 1920 to 1945
Manufacture of brake pads
In autumn 1920, after completing his studies, Fritz Weeren, the son of the company founder, joined the company as a partner. At the same time, a laboratory for research purposes was set up as a third pillar . The main focus of the research was the further metallurgical development of special cast iron for the manufacture of brake block products for the Reichsbahn . In addition, the laboratory served to develop quality standards for production. After the magnitude of the graphite precipitates could be controlled, the production of the "Berlin building boards" was stopped in 1924 and the production machine was replaced by conveyor belts . With the production of fire-resistant alloys , wear-resistant cast iron and the further development of pearlite castings in the 1930s, the company remained competitive and production was only temporarily shut down during the Second World War . The company name remained unchanged.
After the end of the world war until 1983
Reconstruction and production expansion
In 1945 the son Franz Weeren (born May 15, 1922 in Berlin), the grandson of the company founder, joined the company as a partner . With the enormous amounts of scrap in the rubble of Berlin caused by the war, production was back in full swing. This was achieved through a new form of alloy that Fritz Weeren had developed. In the early 1950s consisted of the assortment: Material of highly fire-resistant special quality as grate bars, hollow support with air cooling, coke oven doors, melting pot for die casting , smelting crucible for metal smelters , material of wear-resistant castings as Schwalbungen for briquetting presses , brake pads and brake blocks for railway and materials from chilled cast iron and hard cast for rolls for rolling mills and vacuum rolls for roll crusher . In addition, church bells were cast from 1950 to 1956.
The bells of Berlin (West)
Until the middle of the 19th century, German church buildings were mainly equipped with bronze bells . In 1855, the Bochum Association presented the first cast steel bells at the Paris World Exhibition . Due to the poor sound quality , cast steel bells only had a boom after the two world wars. After twelve years of voluntary inventory, 857 bells, 8 carillon with a total of 105 bells and a carillon consisting of 68 bells were recorded in 335 buildings in the western part of Berlin . About 5 percent of the bells were from before 1850, the oldest had been in operation in the Buckow village church since 1250 . Most of the bronze bells fell victim to the extraction of raw materials for weapons production in the first half of the 20th century and war damage (through the recovery of copper and tin using a reduction process) . From 1950 to 1956, around 110 new bells were therefore purchased by the parishes. 46 of these bells come from the Weeren company.
Parabolic bells
When the first inquiries for new church bells came from the nearby Philipp Melanchthon Church , where the Weeren family were parishioners , the first attempts to manufacture cast iron bells were made in 1947. Since the shape had to be adapted to the material used and a specially used alloy had to be developed to match the structure of the cast iron to that of the bell bronze, the development took over two years. At first it was not possible to cast the bells in the classic Gothic shape . Instead, Appunian bowl bells (named after their inventors, the acousticians Appun) were tested first. The first prototypes on the 68 meter high bell tower had therefore been replaced fourteen times by 1950 , until Fritz Weeren was satisfied with the result. The community received the first three bells. They had a total weight of 2,000 kg and were therefore 1,200 kg lighter than comparable bronze bells. At the same time, ringing machines and bell systems were added to the range . Since the first bell in the vertical section of a parabola equalized, they were under the name Parabolglocken marketed and presented in factory tours.
"The Dr. Ing. Weeren and his son Dipl. Ing. Weeren, both of whom make a very good impression, are quite serious scientists who, based on family-owned rib calculations, have been led in new ways with regard to bell shape, clapper design and alloy. The bell of the Philipp Melanchthon Church, which they first cast, is not entirely satisfactory. It sounds a little rattling, which is probably due to the fact that the vibrations of the individual bells do not last long enough until the next clapper strike. [...] In my opinion, the church supervisory authority has no concerns. Resolutions by parishes regarding the acquisition of the Weeren parabolic bells are to be approved, yes I think it is justified that the company is expressly recommended. "
Manufacturing
Originally, the company also wanted to produce a large number of signal bells for railways and had placed the first advertisements for them. Later it turned out that the mold was not suitable for mass production. The parabolic bell is a pure octave bell made of graphite-free cast iron. Instead of a masonry form, a shaped core was used with the help of specially tamped sand and a template , which corresponds to the shell that was previously made in the same way. After both had dried, they were provided with an indispensable thin layer of graphite and poured into an insulation pit with a cast material at about 1,500 degrees Celsius ; a process that is not suitable for high quality mass production. According to the company's own information, “a weight saving was achieved through sound radiation over the entire surface. Without light ribs, a specimen weighed 1750 kg, whereas a bronze bell would weigh 2750 kg and a steel bell 3615 kg. "
In October 1950, the foundry presented the company's bell skills to the general public at the German Industry Exhibition, which was held again for the first time, including two Appunian bowl bells connected with a crossbar, which were later installed in a signal tower in Havana . For the Katholikentag 1952 four bells with a total weight of 30 centners were made on a specially built bell carrier in the Olympiastadion Berlin , which were rung in the pitch h – d – e – f sharp.
A little bell for Okinawa
On December 7, 1952, the Berliner Morgenpost reported on the visit of Dr. Rolf von Scorebrand in Berlin, a doctor who emigrated to America in 1933 and who founded three leper colonies in Okinawa for 1,600 patients . A few days earlier, Scorebrand had obtained illustrative material for schools and prostheses for the sick in West Germany and hoped that after the donation of the Berlin Liberty Bell from the American people to Berlin, he could take a small bell from there for a new church. Two days later he got a call from Fritz Weeren in his hotel that he could choose one of the bells in the factory yard and take it with him as a gift. On February 18, 1953, the 1434 kg bell was consecrated in public on the airlift square by Bishop Otto Dibelius and Bishop Wilhelm Weskamm under the name "Confidence - Berlin 1953" and ceremoniously handed over to the chief physician by Ernst Reuter . She was then transported by plane to Hamburg and from there by ship to America on March 14, 1953, where Dr. Scorebrand presented during a lecture tour in 40 cities.
Since October 22, 1999, the Weeren bell has been an integral part of the Scorebrand Park , an honorary grove created by the city of Nago City in Airakuen.
Closure of the company
From 1953 to 1955, several competitors came to Berlin with their Glocken products. The biggest competitor was the Bochumer Verein. In 1956 the demand for new bells was largely covered, whereupon the Weeren company removed bell casting from its program. Because in 1960 two bells by the Weeren company were dismantled from the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and donated to the Philipp Melanchthon Church, another new bell was made available the following year in order to create a harmonious sound. Fritz Weeren left the company in 1963. Due to structural changes in the 1970s and without a successor , Franz Weeren closed the company in November 1983. Until then, 20 people were employed there. He sold the company premises and the villa to a supermarket chain . He had previously donated all movable inventory including business documents to the Museum of Transport and Technology .
Monument value and interests in use
At the end of September 1984, the new property owner submitted a preliminary building permit application for the construction of a 1,498 m² hypermarket. Then there was a scandal in the administration of Neukölln . Since the resident dealers in the vicinity feared for their existence and the adjacent streets are not suitable for heavy vehicle traffic , the majority of the building committee and the district council of Neukölln spoke out against this building application. As about the district with the preparations for the initiation of an addition, the development plan process , "the small-scale to structuring the area maintain" began, there was the first concern of the Berlin Senate , because the district office was a management of 500 sqm planned. At the same time, the state curator for monument protection and the investor held initial talks that led to a quick agreement with the architect . Shortly afterwards, the entire area was placed under monument protection in order to preserve the facilities, whereby the owner's interests in use were taken into account and a joint concept was developed. One of the main reasons for monument protection was cultural and historical aspects. The connection between the representative factory owner's villa and the factory complex is also something special in a big city . The steel framework of the production building, the large glass gable roof and the fact that the system was fully functional until the end are also reasons for maintaining the building. A supermarket was built in the former production halls and the villa was converted into an inn with 200 seats inside and the same number outside in a four-year renovation phase . After the supermarket moved out, the factory building was empty . There has been a bowling alley there for several years now. The former villa was leased to the Rixdorf inn until it was closed .
A new building project has been under construction on the property since 2016.
literature
- Michael Lehmann u. a .: From a single source. Cast iron in art and technology . Nicolai, Berlin, 1988 ISBN 3-87584-252-9 .
- Klaus-Dieter Wille: The bells of Berlin (West) . Gebrüder Mann Verlag, Berlin, 1987, ISBN 3-7861-1443-9 .
- Andreas Curtius: About brake blocks and iron bells. The Franz Weeren ironworks. In: Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin, 1/2017, pp. 16–19.
Web links
Notes and individual references
- ^ Weeren, F. in the population register of Berlin . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1888, Part I, p. 1214.
- ^ Weeren> iron and steel foundry, machine factory> Delbrückstraße 37 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1890, V, p. 107.
- ↑ Delbrückstrasse 39–41 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1905, V, p. 245 (Delbrückstrasse 42, 43 are already shown as the property of F. Weeren with the reference to construction sites .).
- ↑ American patents pending ; accessed on September 30, 2014.
- ↑ Eisenwerk Franz Weeren, Glasowstrasse 28–30. In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1920, I, p. 539.
- ↑ a b Not suitable for cannons , published in the Neuköllner Anzeiger on March 25, 1951
- ↑ Michael Lehmann and Andreas Curtius: From a single source. Iron casting in art and technology , p. 170
- ↑ Iron Bells for the Catholic Day , published in the Neuköllner Anzeiger on October 13, 1952
- ↑ Quotation taken from a brochure by the Weeren company from the 1950s, based on a table from the book: Christhard Mahrenholz: Glockenkunde . Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel, 1948.
- ↑ Well, now the casting can begin , in the Neuköllner Anzeiger of July 17, 1952.
- ↑ a b Berlin bell for Okinawa , In: Berliner Morgenpost from December 10, 1952.
- ↑ Weekly Japan Update [1] ; accessed on September 30, 2014.
- ^ Chronicle Neukölln (pdf); accessed on September 30, 2014.
- ^ A b Neuköllner Eisengießerei should be preserved for posterity , Berliner Morgenpost from December 16, 1984
- ↑ Susanne Schilp: History of the Villa Weeren: A contemporary witness remembers . Berliner Wochenblatt publishing house. May 21, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- ↑ Trouble inevitable . FACETTEN magazine Neukölln. April 6, 2016. Accessed March 24, 2019.
- ↑ Everything from a single source . AK Immobilien Projektentwicklungs GmbH. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
Coordinates: 52 ° 27 '52.5 " N , 13 ° 26' 7.9" E