Oberspree cable works
The Oberspree cable works (KWO) was a large company in the Oberschöneweide district of Berlin on the right bank of the Spree between the 1890s and the 1990s, specializing primarily in the manufacture of electrical cables and wires .
History and development of the range
From 1897 until the end of the Second World War
Emil Rathenau , the founder of AEG , acquired a site in Oberspree after 1890 to expand his production facilities and several architects such as Paul Tropp , Johannes Kraaz , Ernst Ziesel , Gottfried Klemm , Jean Krämer and Peter Behrens designed and built suitable production and administration buildings instructed. The buildings were mainly built from the characteristic yellow clinker bricks (so-called "Oberschöneweider clinker"). The KWO was put into operation on October 3, 1897 and already employed 1,800 people in a short time. Erich Rathenau , the younger son of Emil Rathenau, took over the management of the plant . Among other things, insulated lines, power cables up to 10 kV and micanite products were manufactured. After the early death of his son in 1903, Emil Rathenau personally took care of all details in the KWO in the following years. Anton Weber was Erich Rathenau's successor until 1926.
In 1898 a copper rolling mill and a wire drawing mill were put into operation, and telephone cable production began in 1899. In 1903 the first flexible power cables with paper insulation were produced. With the manufacture and laying of 12 kV ground cables for the London Underground Railroad in 1904, a first major order was carried out abroad. In 1908, 30 kV cables were laid in the suburbs of Berlin. In the years 1910/1911 the development and manufacture of long-distance cables and Pupin coils as well as the use of braiding machines began . From 1911 to 1914, 300 kilometers of 16 kV cables were supplied to the German Overseas Electricity Company in Buenos Aires . The first long-distance connections with KWO technology were set up, for example, a telephone communication between Berlin and London was established in 1913 using the relay built in the KWO . Due to the good order situation, the factory area was expanded by 62,000 m² in 1913 and new production halls were built. The number of employees had risen to 8,000.
Emil Rathenau died on June 20, 1915 and he was laid out in a hall of the KWO. The funeral speech was given by his eldest son, Walther Rathenau , who later became the German Foreign Minister.
The AEG participated in the establishment of the German long-distance cable company in 1920 . In the same year, the star quad distribution and the cord paper core were introduced, in 1923 the production of rubber hose lines was started and a 42 km long submarine cable was manufactured. In 1928, coaxial cables were produced for the first time as antenna feed cables for radio broadcasters, and in 1929 a 100 kV ground cable was supplied for the Zschornewitz power station . 1931 AEG was given by the company Pirelli the license for the production of oil-filled cables , the first German oil cable was in 1932 in KWO into production.
The Great Depression caused the manufacturers to introduce the five-day week in 1930/1931 and to reduce the number of employees to 2,700 people.
During the time of National Socialism , more orders were received: in 1936 a KWO coaxial cable was used for television transmission from Berlin to Leipzig , and in 1938 a 150 kV line was laid from Rotterdam to The Hague . Before the Second World War , the number of employees had risen again to 9,123 (1939) and the production area was 184,000 m². At the end of the Second World War, parts of the plant such as the Spreehalle on the banks of the Spree - a striking structure - were totally destroyed or burned out.
1945–1952
On January 15, 1946, the KWO, which was owned by AEG, was handed over to the trusteeship of the Greater Berlin City Council. On November 1, 1946, the plant was transferred to a Soviet stock corporation (SAG), which meant that the German plant management was subordinate to a Soviet general director.
In order to produce anything at all and to initiate a supply of general consumer goods, wax candles, frying pans, saucepans, iron stoves, lighters and other household items were first made. In 1946, 3,200 people were working in the KWO again. At the beginning of the 1950s, connecting and extension cords , Schuko cables , rubber hammers , flat cord holders and "Stromfixe" ( cable drums ) were added to the range. 32-pair paper-insulated carrier frequency (TF) telecommunication cables were manufactured for the Soviet Union . Around two million marks were invested between 1949 and 1952 . In 1950 eight-pair TF telecommunication cables were delivered to Deutsche Post .
Independent state-owned company KWO until 1967
The KWO became a publicly owned enterprise (VEB) in 1952 and was now called VEB Kabelwerk Oberspree (KWO). There was again a stronger focus on cable production. In 1954, polystyrene- insulated TF cables ("tube cables") were supplied, in 1955 polyethylene (PE) was used as the outer sheath material for cables. In 1956, the heavy current cable factory was equipped for the 1 kV plastic cable production (in GDR parlance : “plastic cable”) on a PVC basis and its production started.
In 1957, the 45-hour week also found its way into the KWO. During this time, the KWO provided technical assistance with the reconstruction of the Tsientsin cable plant in China .
In 1959, polyethylene was first used as an insulating material in the GDR for the development of field cables. The Spreehalle was built between 1959 and 1964 and set up as a telecommunications cable factory. In 1963 the winding wire factory was founded. The constant further development of the various special cables resulted in more and more international trade relationships. In 1965, for example, there were export relationships with 40 countries. In accordance with international regulations, green / yellow insulation for protective conductors was introduced into all KWO cable products between 1966 and 1968.
Kombinat VEB KWO until the end of the GDR
In 1967, the foundation of the carried Kombinat VEB Kabelwerk Upper Spree (KKWO). Founding companies in addition to the KWO were the companies Kabelwerk Meißen , Kabelwerk Vacha , Kabelwerk Plauen , Kabelwerk Adlershof , Kabelwerk Schönow and Kabelwerk Köpenick . KWO became the "parent company" and at the same time gave its name to the new combine. As plant director of the parent company, Georg Pohler (1913–1997) also became general director of the combine with authority to issue instructions to the other companies. The specialist directors of the parent plant were also the specialist directors of the combine.
The large company KKWO founded the Kabelwerk Nord in Schwerin-Sacktannen as a new combine operation in 1968 . In the same year, the Kranichfeld cable factory became a member of the combine. In the years 1970 to 1972, the Lausitz cable works, Schnellflechter Berlin and Schlettau cable works were added as combined companies. After the Beelitz cable factory joined the company , virtually all cable production in the GDR was monopolized . In 1989 the combine belonged to 13 companies with around 16,000 employees. With a few exceptions, the combine covered the entire range of cables and in 1989 had a goods production of around three billion GDR marks . Particularly noteworthy from this time are the commissioning of the central plastic processing (PVC processing) in 1974, the first 10.5 kilometer long fiber optic line of the GDR together with the Deutsche Post in Berlin, the crossing of the Nile and Suez Canal with non-training and oil cables in 1981/1982 , Construction and commissioning of the "elastomer processing" (rubber production) and the introduction of aluminum - copper composite conductors (Al / Cu) due to the copper shortage at the time.
Together with the work for television electronics (WF) and the transformer factory Oberspree (TRO) the KWO was carrier operating the successful football club 1. FC Union Berlin .
The company and the factory premises from 1990
In the first half of 1990, the combine disintegrated when the Schwerin, Vacha, Meißen, Schlettau, Beelitz and Schnellflechter Berlin plants were withdrawn . The remaining seven plants merged to form a holding company KWO Kabel AG . After German reunification in 1990, the Treuhandanstalt took over the factory, cable production at the Oberschöneweide location was gradually reduced, but at the same time two new CV systems (CV = continuous networking) for the production of XLPE medium and high voltage cables were built and put into operation , because the production of these products remained in the separated plants in Meißen and Schwerin. The rest of the operation was incorporated and continued as a GmbH under the name KWO Kabelwerke Oberspree GmbH . The products now manufactured continued to include electrical cables and accessories, so that the company was assigned to the category of manufacturers of wire goods, chains and springs for tax purposes. On March 1, 1992, British Insulated Callender's Cables (BICC Cables Ltd.) took over the management of the Oberspree, Köpenick, Schönow and Adlershof cable works. The great interest shown by the British in the Oberschöneweide site became clear when Queen Elisabeth II visited on October 22, 1992. In the following year (on February 1, 1993) BICC Cables Ltd. acquired KWO Kabel GmbH and had cables and wires produced in Oberschöneweide (from 1997 under the name BICC KWO Kabel GmbH ). Engineering services for electrical and electronics companies as well as management and business consulting were newly offered. In the late 1990s, BICC separated from large-scale cable production. Production at the Oberschöneweide location was terminated, systems were sold and a part was briefly merged with Kaiserkabel at its location in Schöneberg . The production of fiber optic cables was outsourced to an industrial site on Groß-Berliner Damm .
The administration and production buildings of the former KWO still preserved on the Wilhelminenhofstrasse site up to the banks of the Spree are listed as historical monuments . They were partially restored from the late 1990s onwards and in large parts they serve as the new campus of the Berlin University of Technology and Economics .
One of the large former factory halls directly on the banks of the Spree has been used as a location for larger cultural events since the renovation and some renovation work inside. Concerts by the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Simon Rattle have already taken place here in 2007 and September 2009 .
Well-known cable workers
literature
- BICC KWO cable . Data brochure on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the foundation in 1997.
- The architectural and art monuments of the GDR , Berlin, 2nd ed. Institute for Monument Preservation at Henschelverlag, Berlin 1984, p. 314 ff.
- Anja Schlender: cranes, art and children. Oberschöneweide is developing from a former industrial site into a residential and work area . In: Berliner Zeitung , December 20, 2007.
Web links
- Information sheet on the location in Schöneweide from the Berlin Center for Industrial Culture
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brief profile of the KWO (new) ( Memento of the original from December 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 19, 2009
- ↑ Matthias Loke: Berlin KWO still in the red / name change / management exchanged . In: Berliner Zeitung , December 10, 1996
- ↑ Brief profile of BICC KWO ( memento of August 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on October 19, 2009
- ↑ Entry in the Berlin State Monument List with further information
- ↑ Overview plan Campus Wilhelminenhofstrasse of the HTW. Retrieved November 2, 2016
- ↑ Gisela Hüttinger: First AEG, then KWO, now HTW Berlin: an industrial area becomes a science location . Press release of the Science Information Service from October 1, 2009; Retrieved October 20, 2009
- ↑ Berliner Abendblatt , September 19, 2009, p. 4
Coordinates: 52 ° 27 ′ 38.2 ″ N , 13 ° 31 ′ 1 ″ E