Friedrich Speidel

Friedrich Speidel jun. (* 1868 in Pforzheim ; † 1937 ) was a German mining company in Greece .

Life

Speidel family in Limenaria

Central laundry in Limenaria

Around 700 years after the last lead / zinc / silver ore mining operated by the Byzantines on the island of Thasos , at the beginning of the 20th century international interest arose in a resumption of the exploitation of the rich, well-known ore deposits. Due to the ownership structure, however, access to the island was difficult and the entrepreneurial risk was high.

Under these circumstances it was particularly remarkable that Friedrich Speidel jun. from Pforzheim decided, the exploitation of calamine operate -Occurrence on the island. In lengthy negotiations with the Turkish owner of the island, a concession and lease agreement was concluded in 1903 for the Vouves deposit near Limenaria , which in 1905 was extended to the area of Sotiras in the northwest. In July 1903, the mining company Fr. Speidel Thasos-Pforzheim started mining, processing, calcining and shipping calamine ores and products. The successful operation had to be closed at the beginning of the First World War . The processing and smelting plants in Limenaria were destroyed in 1916.

Friedrich Speidel participated in the auction of his confiscated company by the Greek government in 1925, but was outbid by a Belgian company.

The merits of Friedrich Speidel jun. and his nephew, Julius Speidel, about the development and the economic boom of the island at that time, the knowledge of the deposits and the subsequent continuation of ore mining are still unforgettable today. The Greek government intended to honor this by building a mining park with the disused mines, the dilapidated processing and smelting plant and the residential and administrative building, the Palati in Limenaria as a museum. The project study to be prepared by the IGME with local and EU funds (€ 600,000) remained unpublished, the Speidel Palati remained in an unfinished condition after its gutting in 2005 and is now in unprotected decay.

Literature and Sources

Calcination plant in Limenaria

• Julius Speidel: Contributions to the knowledge of the geology and deposits of the island of Thasos . Dissertation, 1928, Freiberg 1929.
• Friedrich jun. and Eugen Speidel: Chronicle of the watch chain and jewelry factory Fr. Speidel Pforzheim, in memory of the company's 50th anniversary in July 1918 . Munich 1918.
• 100 years of Speidel . Pforzheim 1968.

Web links

Commons : Speidel in Thasos  - Collection of images, videos and audio files