Paint factory at Neuwerk near Oelze
The paint factory in Neuwerk bei Oelze was a paint factory in Katzhütte ( Thuringia ) that existed from 1830 to 1991.
history
The factory was founded in 1830 by Heinrich Voigt and Friedrich Wilhelm Heuäcker in Katzhütte. Initially, only white lead paints were produced. The raw material was based on the abundant deposits of ocher , barite and gypsum in the Thuringian region. The water power of the Oelze serves as the energy source . In 1852 Friedrich Wilhelm Heuäcker sold his company shares to his son Carl Wilhelm Voigt (see picture). A fire destroyed the factory in 1869, but it was rebuilt in the following years. In 1870, Oskar Voigt mixed two new colors for the first time, which from then on were produced in the factory and were non-toxic: anticinnabic and garnet red . These colors were used in the toy and paper industries. In 1888 a further factory building was opened to increase the capacity to produce white lead. In addition to two chambers, it also contained a lead foundry and a lead defeat. A further increase in efficiency was achieved with the purchase of a steam engine and a crude oil engine in 1891. In 1903 a new boiler house was built which produced electricity for the factory and the village of Oelze . In the period between the First World War and 1929, an upswing set in, which brought the factory good sales and increasing sales. The 100th anniversary of the factory was finally celebrated in 1930.
In 1945 the paint factory was also expropriated, which led to Carl Wilhelm Voigt finally relocating to West Germany in 1953 . In 1955 the company management passed from the Soviet trust to the hands of VEB Farbenfabrik Katzhütte . At that time there were about 60 employees in the factory. At that time the production facilities were out of date and consideration was given to closing the plant. However, due to the high demand of the Buna works in Schkopau for organic extender pigments , which were used to color rubber products, production was maintained. In 1960 the company was completely modernized. A machine room, an acid plant and a wet paint department were built. In the same year the factory was merged with VEB Bleifarbenwerk Ohrdruf . Now the lead chromates were produced exclusively in Ohrdruf. From then on, dough colors for colored paper and colored paints were produced in Katzhütte. A clarification basin for the wastewater was installed in 1968/1969. In 1969, a thermal power station was put into operation, which not only heated the factory but also the House of the People and the sports hall in Katzhütte. In 1980 the company finally celebrated its 150th anniversary. As a result of the political changes in 1990, the factory had to stop production on March 31, 1991. Some parts of the plant were torn down in 1994/1995.
Everyday work
Before 1965, the workers transported the raw materials and finished products by hand and with simple aids such as hand trucks and so-called “inclined levels”, i.e. inclined driveways to a ramp. The trucks were loaded from this ramp . In the colored paint department, paper bags between 40 kg and 75 kg were transported. This was done manually by the workers.
There were two modes of transport for the delivery of raw materials, by train or by truck. By rail: A freight wagon , loaded with the raw materials, drove to the unloading ramp of the freight yard in Katzhütte . The wagon was then unloaded with the help of hand trucks and the truck provided was loaded at the same time. When it arrived at the factory, the truck was unloaded again by hand via a ramp with a “slate level” and temporarily stored in the raw material store for the colored paints. Some of the bags, weighing up to 75 kg, were carried on the workers' backs from the truck to the raw material store. By truck: The only thing that was not needed was the intermediate transport from the train station to the factory, otherwise the process was similar.
The same procedure was followed for the removal of the produced goods. Up to 40 tons of finished products could fit on a freight wagon. These were also loaded into the wagon by hand by around 3–4 workers. This took about four hours.
One worker produced around four tons of colored paints per day. In the dough color department, the workers had to deal with the same transport processes. In the chemical processes in the dough color department, one worker produced around a ton of finished products per day.
After 1965, the company began restructuring the transport and technological processes. Euro pallet traffic was introduced. All pallets were standardized so that they were one size fits all. The transport was carried out by forklift . They helped both in the productive area and in solving internal and external transport.
The hand truck was replaced by the palletized goods. In its place came the pallet truck up to the electric pallet truck. The ramps and “inclined planes” have also been replaced. These changes brought a reduction in physical labor by 50% and an increase in production was associated with it, as more workers could now be active in production. At the same time, with the same number of staff, around 10,000 t of colored inks were produced per year after 1965. The amount of dough colors produced remained constant until the end of the company's history.
The operation after the turn
Many technical changes have been made in the course of the company's history. Even so, the work was always very hard. After the German reunification , the company was no longer marketable. This was due to the structural condition and the production range. From a technical point of view, compared to West Germany, the company was at the level of 1960 . Already during the GDR times there was often talk of the factory being closed, but it was not until March 31, 1991 that the paint factory ended.
In the 1980s, around 10,000 tons of colored paints and around 250 tons of dough colors were produced each year . If you look at the entire history of the factory, there are another 150 tons of iron oxide yellow , 50 tons of iron oxide red , 350 tons of chrome yellow , 150 tons of chrome green and 250 tons of white lead per year.
The listed villa was sold and renovated. A petrol station with a car wash and a car workshop was also built on the site. Furthermore, a plumbing shop and a warehouse for a kitchen supplier were built.
Coordinates: 50 ° 32 ′ 53 ″ N , 11 ° 2 ′ 8 ″ E