Jute spinning and weaving mill in Bremen
The jute spinning and weaving Bremen was a company in Bremen in the district Walle , between North Street and the waterfront , as well as in Delmenhorst , had Weberstraße 6 locations. In Bremen the factory was popularly known as jute .
history
founding of the company
prehistory
The Weser correction of the Lower Weser, because of the silting up of the river, began in 1881 and was completed in 1895. The ports of Bremen could now develop. Bremen did not belong to the German Customs Union , so it was foreign customs. 1883 and 1884 therefore large industrial companies settled by Bremen merchants to outside the city limits: In Delmenhorst the North German Wool Combing and Worsted spinning , ( Nordwolle ) in the Prussian Blumenthal , the Bremer wool combing and Prussian Hemelingen a jute - spinning .
In 1888 Bremen joined the German Customs Union. In 1887/88 the new Europahafen was built as a free port . Bremen entrepreneurs thus had security for new settlements. The processing of raw jute in the immediate vicinity of the new Bremen port area, the discharge point for jute imports in the customs-free area, made sense. The need for packaging material in the form of jute sacks for the emerging port industry grew increasingly. Raw jute could be imported in sufficient quantities at reasonable prices.
The foundation
Albert Haasemann , young director of a jute spinning and weaving mill from 1873 in Hemelingen , then Prussia , recognized the advantage of the location near the Bremen free ports. He and the banker Bernhard Loose founded the jute spinning and weaving mill in Bremen in 1888 with the support of the businessman Christoph Hellwig Papendieck and the businessman and consul Johann Smidt . Papendieck and Smidt found and procured a suitable 7.5 hectare area in Walle on what would later become the Nordstrasse and the Gröpelinger Deich with the field name Syndikushof ; 4 hectares of which were used for the factory and the rest for housing and roads. Haasemann became the sole director and Gustav Lahusen became the first chairman of the supervisory board of the new stock corporation with an initial capital of 1.5 million marks. In the Supervisory reputable merchants such as Senator were John C. Achelis , banker Eduard Wätjen , Theodor Lürmann and consul Julius Brabant represented.
According to Haasemann's plans, the factory was completed in time for the opening of the Europahafen on October 21, 1888, after “a record performance in factory construction”. Since the customs connection in Bremen was scheduled for October 15, 1888, the necessary machines could still be imported duty-free from abroad. Production began with spinning machines with around 4500 fine spindles and 240 looms . By 1890 there were 6,700 fine spindles and 320 looms. 1100 employees were initially employed. By 1896 the number of spindles, looms and employees doubled.
Even before jute was created , Papendieck and Smidt founded the non-profit Bremer Bauverein in 1887 , which acquired land on Waller Wied west of the jute site in order to build workers' houses there. Heimatstrasse and Eintrachtstrasse were built and the first houses were occupied at the end of 1888. By 1893, residential developments followed on Bogensstrasse, Friedenstrasse, Wiedstrasse and Pfeilstrasse.
The plant later had to be expanded several times and workers from Thuringia (from Eichsfeld ), Bohemia , Poland , Galicia and southeastern Europe had to be recruited. Due to the predominantly Catholic immigrants, the Catholic Marienkirche was built in Walle in 1898, and it was very popular. The strong British competition with its low wages also forced the jute to a low wage level, which was lamented by the textile workers' association . At Haasemann's instigation, the factory initiated social aid measures, in part with the help of civil welfare organizations. The construction of apartments, the establishment of a home for babies and children (1907), company medical care with two doctors and care for the elderly took place in the immediate vicinity of the factory. In addition, a company health insurance fund was created. Around 2 million marks for workers 'welfare institutions were recorded in the balance sheet in 1913, of which 825,000 marks were for workers' apartments.
The company developed into one of the most important companies in this branch. From 1895 to 1930 Bruno Girardoni (1864–1934) was the director of the factory; A street in Hemelingen was named after him. In 1896 2000 people were employed, in 1913 there were 2150. Due to the First World War , production was significantly reduced and in 1918 there were only 800 employees.
From 1919 to 1945
Even after the First World War , the company enjoyed a new boom. In 1928 Jute had 1,680 employees. In 1932, the company took over the Delmenhorst jute spinning mill and the Barther jute spinning mill in Western Pomerania. Jute was the second largest company in the jute industry. In 1931 Haasemann resigned from the management board and became chairman of the supervisory board. Carl Julius Brabant, nephew of the company co-founder, became a member of the supervisory board in 1919, chairman of the supervisory board in 1928 and was director of the company from 1931 to 1959 and then again chairman of the supervisory board. The Brabant Catholic came from the Loose banking house. Despite his rejection of the regime, he could not prevent the influence of the National Socialists . In 1938 Jute had 2,164 employees in Bremen and Delmenhorst .
In World War II Polish working forced laborers in the factory. From 1940 onwards, ports and industries were often the target of Allied bombing. The factory was hit several times, but continued production to a limited extent. In 1944 the jute as well as the west of Bremen was destroyed by the major attack on 18./19. August finally destroyed.
From 1945 to 1996
From 1946 the production facilities were rebuilt. Some company apartments were later built on a smaller scale elsewhere, as was the children's home. Brabant was again chairman of the board . In 1947 the company u. a. Paper and sacks for mines, which in turn delivered coal to a steelworks, which took part in the reconstruction of the Bremen jute factory as compensation. In 1949 the factories in Bremen and Delmenhorst produced with 1,350 employees. Carl Julius Brabant jr., The son of the long-time director, became deputy chairman in 1951. He successfully introduced the production of wide jute fabrics for tufted carpets.
The urban planning for the area west of the north street of the Jute-Spinnerei no longer envisaged residential settlement, only for the Heimatstraßenviertel , a residents' initiative led by Paul Falck was able to enforce the reconstruction of apartments.
Jute spinning saw a modest upswing. In 1959 the order situation was bad again. The Bremen plant at the Europahafen was closed and production and administration relocated to Delmenhorst. High raw material prices led to sales difficulties. Guest workers from Turkey increasingly worked in the factory in Delmenhorst. Despite new products, the company's difficulties continued, also due to a negative economic situation. In 1971/1972 there were production restrictions and layoffs. Instead of in jute sacks, goods were increasingly u. a. transported in containers .
In 1973 the jute spinning mill relocated machines from Delmenhorst to the island of Mauritius , where jute was only produced until 1977 . 1973 the first carpet market was opened in Delmenhorst; Foundation stone for a growing retail chain. After 1980, the production of textile wallpapers took off again. After eleven years without dividends, the company was able to distribute profits for its shareholders in 1980. Sales rose from around 50 million marks to 1987, also through company acquisitions, to over 100 million marks. In 1988 there were 608 employees, 420 of them at the retail chain.
The Weser-Kurier reported a favorable development in jute for 1989. The new major shareholder was Burg Calenberg Import-Warenhandelsgesellschaft from Bovenden - Harste . At the end of 1996, production in Delmenhorst was stopped and the plant with 100 employees was closed.
memories
In Walle, Albert-Haasemann-Straße , Brabantstraße and Eduard-Milse-Weg (long-time technical director and member of the board) are reminiscent of the jute spinning mill.
Well-known women from the Bremen women's movement such as Käthe Popall , Hermine Berthold and Maria Krüger were employed in the jute spinning mill.
See also
literature
- Hermann Sandkühler and Cecilie Eckler-von Gleich: The jute spinning and weaving mill in Bremen. A factory in the west of Bremen shaped Walle and Utbremen . In: Günther Garbrecht: A foray through the history of Bremen . University of Bremen 2010.
- Festschrift for the 25th anniversary of the jute spinning and weaving mill in Bremen . Edited by Jute-Spinnerei und Weberei Bremen. In: History archive of the Brodelpott cultural initiative .
- Herbert Black Forest : The Great Bremen Lexicon . 2nd, updated, revised and expanded edition. Edition Temmen , Bremen 2003, ISBN 3-86108-693-X .
Individual evidence
- ^ Karl-Heinz Hofmann: 100 years of the seaport city of Bremen . In: Weser-Kurier of April 30, 1992.
- ↑ CecilieEckler von Gleich: "Jute took care of immigration even before 1900" in: Weser-Kurier November 29, 2001.
- ^ G. H. Claussen: Gemeinnütziger Bremer Bauverein, its justification . Bremen 1900.
- ↑ Weser-Kurier of June 28, 1996.