Ludowici brickworks

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The Carl Ludowici folded tile works in Jockgrim ( southern Palatinate ), which were in operation from 1883 to 1972, were once among the largest brick factories in the world. The industrial production of roof tiles began with the Z1 interlocking tile, registered for a patent by Wilhelm Ludowici in 1881 .

history

1857 to 1883: history of the company before the settlement in Jockgrim

Carl Friedrich Ludowici, born in Uetersen in Schleswig-Holstein , bought the "Ensheimer Ziegelei" in 1857, a small brickworks between Ensheim and St. Ingbert in what is now Saarland . In addition, in 1861 he bought a brickworks from the building contractor Joseph Hoffmann in Mundenheim (now a district of Ludwigshafen am Rhein ). His sons joined the company in 1877, Franz Ludowici as commercial manager and Wilhelm Ludowici as technical manager. Wilhelm Ludowici subsequently developed the Z1 interlocking tile and the revolver press , which helped the company achieve an economic breakthrough. Since the clay deposits in Mundenheim were running low, Wilhelm Ludowici started looking for new deposits that he found between Rheinzabern and Jockgrim.

1883 to 1929: Development and establishment in Jockgrim under Wilhelm Ludowici

In addition to the large clay deposits, there were other arguments in favor of Jockgrim. In the poor, agricultural southern Palatinate , there was enough cheap labor available. Both the coal needed to fire the kilns and the finished goods could be transported via the Jockgrim station, built in 1876, and the Rhine, which runs not far from Jockgrim.

On May 1, 1883, Plant 1 was put into operation in Jockgrim. In the following years, further plants were added (1886 Plant 2, 1888 Plant 3 and 1891 Plant 5). The plant in Mundenheim initially remained in operation as Plant 4 and was relocated to Jockgrim in 1894. Around the actual factories, further parts of the business were built, including an own machine factory for the manufacture and maintenance of turret presses. In 1897, 20 million bricks were manufactured in Jockgrim. The company and its subsidiaries became the largest brick manufacturer in the world.

As early as 1885, the company founded its own health and social insurance scheme on a voluntary basis . The workers were offered company apartments and an in-house kindergarten .

Wilhelm Ludowici paid off his siblings in 1896 and became the sole owner of the company. His brother August Ludowici (1866–1945) anonymously donated part of his share for the construction of the Art Nouveau festival hall in Landau. It was not until 1925 that it became known who the unknown donor was.

1929 to circa 1970: Beginning downturn under Johann Wilhelm Ludowici

Wilhelm Ludowici died in 1929, his son Johann Wilhelm Ludowici took over the management. The company initially expanded further. For example, the contract to manufacture roof tiles for the Olympic Village in Berlin for the 1936 Summer Games was effective in advertising . 70 percent of the brick works in Jockgrim were destroyed in a bombing raid on February 14, 1945.

The construction boom after World War II stimulated business. With 1000 employees, the workforce reached its highest level. But then the downturn began. The trend towards other roof shapes, for example flat roofs , as well as the competitive pressure from concrete roof tiles, Eternit plates or corrugated iron led to a drop in sales.

In addition, Johann Wilhelm Ludowici, who, like his father, was a great inventor, concentrated less on management than on his inventions. Many patents have been registered through him. Some of his inventions revolutionized the construction industry, for example the lifting scissor lift or panel construction. Other projects, on the other hand, flopped and devoured huge sums of money that the company lacked in the difficult phase, for example the floating metal spherical house as emergency accommodation for crisis areas.

Around 1970 to 1972: The end under Helmo Ludowici

Towards the end of the 1960s, Johann Wilhelm's son Helmo Ludowici took over the management of the ailing company. Factory 4 was destroyed by arson in 1971. In 1972 only the modern plant 6 with around 100 employees was still producing; this was also destroyed by arson on September 5, 1972. Since the end of the local clay deposits appeared at the same time, the plant was not rebuilt. The production of roof tiles in Jockgrim ended.

1972 to 1995: Successor company under Helmo Ludowici

Under the management of Helmo Ludowici and Walter Reiss, two successor companies continued to operate on the old factory premises until 1995. The Förderungsgesellschaft für Montagebau mbH , founded in 1941 by Johann Wilhelm Ludowici, acted as a building construction and civil engineering company and operated mechanical engineering; in 1995 it filed for bankruptcy . The Carl Ludowici GmbH concrete works produced concrete parts.

1996 until today: Sale of the factory premises under Rieke Ludowici-Wissing

The area in Jockgrim, which is still family or company owned, has been gradually marketed as building land since 1996 by Carl Ludowici GmbH under Managing Director Rieke Ludowici-Wissing, daughter of Helmo.

Remains of the brickworks

The brickwork museum

Large parts of the former factory premises have meanwhile been used for residential and commercial buildings. The site is now home to the administration building of the Jockgrim community - the renovation was designed by the architect Stephan Böhm . One of the old brickworks' ring kilns was integrated into the basement of the building .

Immediately next to it is the brickwork museum. The exhibition documents the 100 year history of brick production in Jockgrim. The production steps from clay extraction to dispatch, the products of the brickworks, the development of the village and the company's history are documented in various rooms. Another part of the exhibition is the partially preserved ring furnace, which was originally 90 meters long and six floors high. Today it serves as the basement of the modern administration building of the association. With his design for a spherical house in the 1950s, Ludowici wanted to create an alternative to conventional housing construction, especially in the event of a disaster, due to the good transport options and optimal use. Ludowici had three spherical houses built as prototypes, two in concrete and one in steel. One of these is set up outside the museum.

Other old halls and administration buildings have been converted into residential or commercial buildings, but still reveal their old purpose. The company's owners' old villa still exists.

Ludowici art collection

The Ludowicis have always been art collectors. Helmo Ludowici in particular created an impressive art collection with works by the painters of the “Wörther School” under Heinrich von Zügel, including works by Otto Dill and Max Bergmann .

Others

Ludowici Roof Tile Inc. , a former subsidiary of Ludowici Brickworks, which was founded at the end of the 19th century by Karl Ludowici, a brother of Wilhelm Ludowici, on his behalf, still exists in New Lexington (Ohio, USA) . Even today, high-quality, hand-made bricks are produced there using traditional methods. There are no longer any personal or financial connections to Germany. In Long County, Georgia, USA, there is a place called Ludowici , which was named after Carl Ludowici in 1905.

literature

  • Wolf-Manfred Müller: The Carl Ludowici Falzziegelwerke and their range of bricks from 1857 to 1914/1917. Manufacture, development, technology and design of folded, roof and shaped tiles in historicism. (= IFS report , Volume 39.) Institute for Stone Conservation eV (IFS), Mainz 2011. (without ISBN) ( Table of contents as PDF at the German National Library)

Web links

Coordinates: 49 ° 5 ′ 39.1 ″  N , 8 ° 16 ′ 25.6 ″  E