Paint factory Wolfen
The Wolfen paint factory was put into operation by Agfa in 1896 on the initiative of Franz Oppenheim in the corridor of the town of Greppin , as an expansion of the plant in Berlin was not possible for various reasons. A production focus was the manufacture of azo dyes .
history
As part of Agfa, the Wolfen paint factory became part of IG Farben in 1925 . At the end of the Second World War, it was occupied first by the US Army, then by the Red Army . Dismantling began, which severely restricted the performance of the plant in the following years. In 1947 the paint factory became part of the Soviet Joint Stock Company (SAG) Kraska . The nitrogen production facilities in the paint factory were particularly important for post-war agriculture in the Soviet Zone , but four of the five facilities were dismantled on the orders of the Soviet rulers. With effect from May 1, 1952, the paint factory was dismissed from the SAG Kraska. Subsequently, investments were made in the construction of a sulfuric acid factory in Wolfen , which produced significant quantities of cement and sulfuric acid. The latter was particularly important as an intermediate product for further production in Bitterfeld and Wolfen. Since the Wolfen paint factory was separated from the group of dye-producing companies of IG Farben AG after the war and an exchange with the companies in the west was no longer possible, the factory had to expand its product range in a very short time to accommodate the market in the SBZ or the later GDR to use. In addition, new research capacities were necessary because completely new ranges of dyes and dyes had to be developed for the now important synthetic fibers made of polyamide , polyester and polyacrylonitrile . In the chemistry program passed by the Central Committee of the SED in 1959 , production increases were set for the paint factory in the field of fertilizers , pesticides , pharmaceuticals and dyes . The paint factory was the only large dye producer in the GDR. For this reason there were close relationships with the textile industry. With the well-known bad, because above all outdated, equipment, the unique position of the factory and its special importance for the economy posed major problems for the factory management. The state tried to counteract the problems in 1969 by founding the VEB Chemiekombinat Bitterfeld , in which the Wolfen paint factory was merged in the same year.
The pension fund for the company's employees still exists .
Paint factory directors
- June 1945 − December 1952: Irmfried Petersen
- January 1953 − January 1954: Max Schulze
- February 1954 − April 1959: Walter Singer
- May 1959 − February 1969: Jakob Diehlmann
Products from the Wolfen paint factory (selection)
Anion exchangers , benzidine , disinfectants such as the penetrant smelling Wofasept , dyes , fungicides , tannins , ion exchangers , cosmetics , pharmaceuticals and fragrances
literature
- Chemie AG Bitterfeld-Wolfen (Ed.): Bitterfeld Chronicle: 100 years of the Bitterfeld-Wolfen chemical site . Chemie AG, Bitterfeld-Wolfen 1993.