Portland cement Blaubeuren Gebrüder Spohn AG

View of the Blaubeurer cement works of " HeidelbergCement AG " (formerly "Portland-Zement Blaubeuren Gebrüder Spohn AG") shortly before its demolition

The Portland cement Blaubeuren Brothers Spohn AG was a cement company in Blaubeuren ( Baden-Württemberg , Germany ), which is a foundation of the entrepreneur Julius Spohn declined (1841 to 1919). In 1938 the majority of the " HeidelbergCement AG " took over, it was shut down in 1998/99 and demolished. In its place is the headquarters of " Centrotherm photovoltaics AG " today . By inheritance, the "Portland-Zement Blaubeuren Gebrüder Spohn AG" formed the cornerstone of the building materials branch of the Merckle Group .

history

Economic background

Until the beginning of the 19th century, Blaubeuren did not grow beyond the medieval city wall. This only changed in 1830 when the city wall was partially demolished in the course of industrialization. The focus was on the exploitation of limestone deposits in the Blautal and the associated settlement of the cement industry in the middle of the 19th century. The city expanded further, this time to the south, after 1868, when Blaubeuren was connected to the rail network with the opening of a train station.

Foundation and development

Endeavoring to produce his own building materials for the constant expansion of his Ravensburger spinning mill and with a feel for future economic developments, the entrepreneur Julius Spohn (1841–1919) founded in 1871 together with his brother Georg (1843–1886) in Blaubeuren , the place of origin of their ancestors , a cement factory. Since Julius Spohn and his brother had no knowledge of cement production, they took on the Blaubeurer innkeeper Albert Ruthardt, who was already active in the cement industry on site, as a partner. While the latter organized the establishment and operation of the company called "Spohn & Ruthard" on site, the Spohn brothers provide the necessary finances.

The first cement was delivered to Ravensburg for the expansion of the Spohn family's spinning mill. For the Spohn brothers, however, a long dry spell had to be overcome in this area. There were problems with the cement quality and the Blaubeuren partner Ruthard left the joint company in frustration in 1875, which now operated as the "Cementfabrik Blaubeuren Gebrüder Spohn". It was not until 1887, with the introduction of Portland cement , that the company began to generate profits. Until then, it had to be kept afloat with the surpluses generated by the Ravensburger spinning mill.

In October 1900 Julius Spohn handed over the technical management of the Blaubeuren cement works to his eldest son Georg Spohn (1870–1948). With around 450 employees and an annual production of around 160,000 tons of cement, the Spohn company was the largest cement factory in the region.

In view of the ongoing decline in prices due to increased competition and the pending new investments in grinders and furnaces, the Blaubeur company founded a cartel in 1903 with the other 25 southern German cement plants , the "Süddeutsche Cement-Vertriebsstelle GmbH", based in Heidelberg . This company took over the joint sale of the partner companies in its own name and set annual production quotas for them according to the market situation.

Quarry of the former Blaubeurer cement works in the Gerhausen district

In the following year Julius Spohn and his son Georg converted their cement works into a stock corporation , the "Portland-Zement Blaubeuren Gebrüder Spohn AG". While Georg Spohn took over the chairmanship of the board , Julius Spohn became a member of the supervisory board . The new legal form simplified the financing of the company through the possibility of being able to issue new shares to new shareholders without much ado if money was needed .

Were initially of the 2,500 shares comprising share capital still 2,496 pieces in the hands of the family Spohn and only one share in the "Portland Cement Works Heidelberg AG", later " HeidelbergCement AG ", took over as the latter already in 1938 the majority of shares. In addition, Georg Spohn and his family signed an interest group agreement (" organ agreement ") with the Heidelberg Portland cement works, which granted the latter full authority over the business activities of the Blaubeur cement company. In return, Georg Spohn and his brother Richard received two seats on the four-person board of directors that led the interest group. In addition, Georg and Richard Spohn got seats on the supervisory board of "Portland-Zementwerke Heidelberg AG" and, in exchange for the majority of shares in their cement company, a block of shares in the Heidelberg Portland cement works. It was not until 1966 that the Blaubeuren cement works was fully integrated into the Heidelberg cement group.

In 1976, “HeidelbergCement” merged the Blaubeuren plant with the nearby Schelklingen production site to form the “Blautal plant”. While the Schelklingen site was expanded into the largest and most modern cement plant in Germany in the following years with a production capacity of 1.5 million t per year, "HeidelbergCement" closed the Blaubeuren plant, which had become unprofitable, in 1997 just a few weeks after its 125th anniversary Cancel without replacement in 1998/99. This also ended the history of Blaubeuren as an important location for the European cement industry.

On the industrial wasteland created by the demolition , next to a shopping center, there is now “ Centrotherm photovoltaics AG ”, a TecDAX- listed German system manufacturer , service provider and supplier to the solar technology industry .

aftermath

The Blaubeurer cement factory of the Spohn family formed the cornerstone of the building materials branch of the “ Merckle Group ”. The entrepreneurial family Spohn gradually exchanged the shares in their cement plant for a minority stake in "Portland-Zementwerke Heidelberg AG" (today "HeidelbergCement AG"). After a granddaughter of Julius Spohn, Luise Spohn (1900–1984), Ludwig Merckle (senior) married in 1931, this block of shares came into the possession of the Merckle family from Aussig (now Ústí nad Labem in Bohemia , Czech Republic ). The son of Ludwig Merckle and Luise Spohn, Adolf Merckle , expanded this stake in 2005 to a majority stake in “HeidelbergCement AG”.

Quarry track and conveyor belt

In the first years of the Spohn cement works, the limestone required for cement production was brought in by horse-drawn cart from the Gerhausen, Sotzenhausen and Allmendingen quarries. The conversion of the plant to the production of Portland cement in 1887 was very capital intensive and made savings elsewhere necessary. Therefore the Allmendingen and Sotzenhausen quarries were closed in 1887.

The limestones broken in the Gerhausen quarry, on the other hand, were first transported to a loading point in Gerhausen (“Markbronner Straße”) with an 800 m long cable car. From there the material was transported for almost twenty years with a horse-drawn field railway with a gauge (railroad) of 700 mm (Prussian field railway gauge) over a 2.4 km long route across Gerhausen to the cement works. Try the horses by a 5-horsepower Daimler - motor car to replace failed 1888/89.

Krauss locomotive, built in 1929, 700 mm gauge, preserved in the Noerdlingen Railway Museum

But even before the First World War, the “Bähnle” was converted to steam locomotives . Locomotives from Krauss & Co. were used .

In order to meet the growing demand of the cement works, a works railway ("quarry railway ") had to be built to replace the cable railway and field railway. According to plans and under the supervision of the operations manager Dipl.-Ing. Wilhelm Doderer (1895–1975, great-nephew of the railway builder Wilhelm Carl von Doderer ) built by the Baresel construction company from 1938 onwards, it was opened in July 1941 by the technical director Dr. Eberhard Spohn (1906–1981) inaugurated.

This electrified narrow-gauge railway , like the earlier field railway, had a gauge (railway) of 700 mm and a total length of 3.9 km . In addition, it overcame the "Eseltal" via a 100 m long concrete bridge with five pillars and passed through two tunnels with a length of 200 m and 350 m respectively .

After the Second World War, locomotives from the Gmeinder company were used. No longer powerful enough, the single-track line was replaced by a 1.6 km long conveyor belt from 1970 . This also ran through a 770 m long tunnel and remained in operation until the cement plant was closed in 1997.

Today you can only see overgrown tracks, old sleepers, foundations, bridges, tunnels and walled up tunnel portals of the former works railway.

literature

Heidelberger Zement AG (ed.): "A factory disappears - The history and the end of the Portland cement factory in Blaubeuren", Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, Ulm 2001, ISBN 3-88 294-313-0 ;
Kühn, Dieter: "160 years of the Blaubeuren cement industry", Blaubeurer Geographische Hefte 16, Denkhaus Blaubeuren, Blaubeuren 1999, ISBN 3-930998-16-5
Viehöver, Ulrich: "The influential - Henkel, Otto & Co - Who has money and power in Germany", Campus Verlag, Frankfurt 2003, ISBN 3-593-37667-9
Friedhelm Weidelich: "On a narrow track through Germany - the Blaubeuren quarry railway", in the "Eisenbahn Magazin", issue No. 2, year 1973, p. 14f.