Hengst furniture factory (Pirna)
The Hengst furniture factory , later Holzindustrie Pirna Friedrich Hengst GmbH , was a German company in the city of Pirna that was active in the field of wood processing and furniture construction from 1869 to 2007 . The factory on Maxim-Gorki-Straße in Pirnaer Westvorstadt, built from 1898 onwards, has been partially preserved and is a listed building .
history
The furniture factory emerged from a board mill mentioned as early as 1435 , which was also known under the names Schindler's mill , Pretzschen's great mill , Funtes great mill , Plenzmühle and Schönbornmühle . Friedrich Hengst obtained permission to practice the carpentry trade in 1869 . His first carpenter's workshop was still in the middle of Pirna's old town , Schuhgasse 13. Due to the prosperous business, Hengst was able to steadily expand his company. In 1872 he bought the property at Schloßstraße 8 and was able to accept large-scale orders in the large workshop of a former printing company. In 1880 he had the rooms of the then advance bank on the property converted into the first furniture showroom in Pirna. A large wood storage area was set up on Gartenstrasse opposite the post office.
To support the workers, the first Pirna woodworking machines, including a steam engine and boiler, were installed in 1890. Due to the necessary and extensive renovation work, massive amounts of rubble were generated. Among other things, this was used as a substrate for the construction of the garden road. In the same year, Hengst bought a 2.2-hectare field plot on Dresdner Strasse. A new wood storage area has been set up here. The existing storage area on Gartenstrasse was given up.
Together with the builder Kemnitzer and the Otto Schmidt Sandsteinindustrie company , Hengst bought the mill property on Maxim-Gorki-Strasse in the Westvorstadt in 1897 . Of these, plots were parceled out for:
- Schleifsteinwerke Pirna,
- Gottsche House,
- Building of the Reichsbank branch in Pirna (later used by the commercial bank)
- as well as other residential properties.
By merging with the field plot on Dresdner Strasse bought in 1890 and utilizing the existing hydropower, the construction of a factory began in 1899. This was planned and built by the Leipzig civil engineer Paul Ranft on the basis of designs made by Friedrich Hengst and his two sons . Various woodworking machines, a steam engine with boiler and turbine, an exhaustor system and an elevator system were also installed.
In 1900 the company moved to its final headquarters on Maxim-Gorki-Straße and was renamed Holzindustrie Pirna Friedrich Hengst GmbH . In addition to windows and doors, shop fittings and interior fittings were also manufactured. In Pirna all new buildings for the authorities as well as the hospital and hospital were carried out. Other major works were, for example, the expansion of the Gottleuba sanctuary, the Ministry of Finance, the Ständehaus, the main train station and new buildings for the Technical University in Dresden. In Leipzig, work was carried out for the main train station , a piano factory and various university buildings, in Freiberg for the mining academy , in Berlin for the post office and for numerous state buildings in Hamburg. A total of around 40 churches were provided with benches, doors and balustrades, and ceiling and other carpentry work was carried out.
The long-drawn-out plan to build two commercial buildings with exhibition rooms at the entrance to the factory premises on Maxim-Gorki-Straße was carried out in 1913. In the same year, the property on Gartenstrasse was also sold. In the following year, a track system was created to transport the wood on the factory site. A planned connection to the track system of the state railway could not be realized.
The First World War brought great difficulties for the company. Of the 104 employees employed at the beginning of the war, a total of 55 had to join the military, seven of whom died in the course of the war. One year after the end of the war, a total of 105 men were employed again. In 1921, Friedrich Hengst retired from the company management, which his two sons Max and Richard took over. The founder finally died on January 5, 1925. In addition to the numerous workers (110 employees were employed in 1929), modern woodworking machines were also used. Almost all machines had an electric drive with a connection to the public power supply, so that the water turbine and the steam engine faded into the background. In cooperation with architects and construction companies, windows, doors and high-quality interior fittings were produced, among others for the Bastei , for the Dresden Post Office and other postal service buildings in Meißen and Berlin, for the train stations in Wehlen , Bad Schandau , Großsedlitz , Heidenau and Pirna , the Stadtsparkasse Pirna, for buildings at the International Hygiene Exhibition 1930 in Dresden, for Pillnitz Castle and for the Reichsbank in Berlin.
In 1930 the world economic crisis became apparent in Pirna . As a result of a lack of orders, the workforce shrank from 1930 to 1933 to only 13 in some cases. In order to be able to offer unemployed colleagues a livelihood at least from time to time, those working in the company were replaced after certain periods of time in coordination with the works council. Only after 1933 did the construction industry pick up to a certain extent, and furniture sales also increased again. By the beginning of the Second World War , around 90 workers were employed again. During the Second World War, the company also made crates of ammunition.
After the end of the war, operations were resumed with around 50 workers. From July to November 1945 the machines in the factory were almost completely dismantled , and these went to the Soviet Union as reparations . The new economic start for the family business turned out to be difficult. In the first few years there was not only a lack of wood and building materials, but also of machines and spare parts. So were z. B. used fire hoses as drive belts and used old machines for production on loan from friendly companies. During the winter of 1945/1946 it was necessary to work without heating; the heating system could not be put back into operation until autumn 1946. Only in the course of the years could the necessary woodworking machines be procured again.
Due to the war damage, especially in neighboring Dresden, there was no shortage of orders. In the course of the reconstruction, the Hengst company delivered u. a. Windows, doors and interior fittings for the Zwinger , the Catholic Court Church , the Semperoper , the Japanese Palace , the Landhaus and the new buildings on the Altmarkt .
From around 1948, production normalized and the workforce grew from 50 in 1946 to 82 in 1952. The turnover could be increased from 400,000 marks in 1946 to 900,000 marks in 1959.
Since the 1960s, the Hengst company has concentrated on the serial production of windows and doors and from 1970 onwards only manufactured larger series. The state had been a partner in the family business since 1961 . In the spring of 1972, it was completely nationalized . Four years later (1976) the company was incorporated as an independent unit into the Pirna Civil Engineering Combine . In the course of time, the box window was replaced by the composite window and at the end of the 1960s, the production of thermal windows began. In 1969 the Holzindustrie Pirna produced windows worth approx. 1.5 million marks.
After the fall of the Wall , the company was quickly re- privatized in July 1990 . Due to the good order situation in the years after the reunification, the number of employees could be increased steadily from 65 (1990) to 105 (2000). In the following years, however, there was a drastic drop in orders. At the end of 2003, the company had to file for its first bankruptcy due to insufficient orders . In 2007, the second filing for bankruptcy resulted in the final shutdown of production.
The main building of the factory will be converted for residential purposes from 2018, the creation of 42 residential units is planned. The renovation costs are expected to amount to around € 4.8 million. The warehouse, silo and delivery of the old industrial area will be demolished, while the large chimney will be preserved.
chronology
- 1869 - Authorization to practice carpentry
- 1872 - Purchase of the property at Schloßstraße 8 and construction of a workshop
- 1880 - Construction of a furniture showroom
- 1890 - Installation of the first woodworking machines, purchase of the field plot on Dresdner Straße
- 1897 - Purchase of the property on Maxim-Gorki-Strasse
- 1899 - construction of the factory building
- 1900 - Completion of the building and relocation of production
- 1906 - The sons Max and Richard Hengst became business partners.
- 1907 - A wooden shed is built and the canteen is expanded
- 1912 - Extension of the wood yard
- 1913 - Construction of two commercial buildings at the entrance to the factory premises, fire in a drying room
- 1914 - Construction of a track system for transporting wood
- 1919 - 105 employees
- 1921 - The founder's departure from management
- 1925 - Death of the founder Friedrich Hengst
- 1929 - 110 employees
- 1930–1933 - 12 employees in the Great Depression
- 1939 - 90 employees
- 1943 - Max Hengst dies
- 1944 - Richard Hengst dies
- 1945 - Most of the company's machines are dismantled
- 1946 - Purchase of a steam boiler and commissioning of the heating
- 1946 - 50 employees
- 1952 - 82 employees
- 1957/1958 - Flood of the Gottleuba with damage to the company
- 1961 - State participation begins
- 1970 - Modernization of the electrical connection with 200 KVA underground cables
- 1971 - Christian Dinter takes over the management
- 1972 - complete nationalization
- 1976 - Incorporation into the Pirna Civil Engineering Combine
- 1990 - Privatization through the Treuhand
- 1990 - 65 employees
- 2000 - 110 employees
- 2003 - bankruptcy
- 2007 - another bankruptcy and final shutdown of production
Preserved factory buildings
From 1898 onwards, according to plans by Paul Ranft, clearly structured brick buildings were built, which included the factory and administration (main building) and flanking two residential and commercial buildings (inscribed in 1913) including exhibition rooms. The representative buildings are reminiscent of Art Nouveau and are the most important surviving examples of industrialization in Pirna and as such are a monument of industrial history of particular value. The continuity of use of the building ensemble as a wood processing company and window manufacturer was maintained for more than 100 years.
Individual evidence
- ^ "Stallion conversion can start" , Sächsische Zeitung (Pirna edition) from July 26, 2018
literature
- Dehio-Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Dresden. (Special volume) Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 2005, ISBN 978-3-422-03110-4 , p. 329.
- Friedrich Hengst stood for windows, doors and shop fittings from Pirna. In: Sächsische Zeitung (Pirna edition) from 10./11. July 2010, p. 19.
- Friedrich Hengst supplied the windows for the reconstruction of Dresden. In: Sächsische Zeitung (Pirna edition) of July 12, 2010, p. 9.
- Company history for the 100th anniversary
Web links
- Hugo Jensch: On the industrial history of Pirna . (PDF, 834 kB)
Coordinates: 50 ° 57 ′ 31 ″ N , 13 ° 55 ′ 49 ″ E