Rhine brown
Rheinbraun AG
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legal form | AG |
founding | 1908 (predecessor RAG) 1959 (merger) |
resolution | 2003 |
Reason for dissolution | Merger with sister company RWE Power |
Seat | Cologne |
Branch | Mining and power industry |
Rheinbraun (formerly Rheinische AG for lignite mining and briquette production from 1908 , RAG for short , from 1960 to 1989 Rheinische Braunkohlenwerke AG ) is a former lignite mining and energy supply company that operated opencast mines , power plants , briquette factories and refining operations in the Rhenish lignite district .
Since October 2003, Rheinbraun has been completely absorbed by RWE Power AG . The name Rheinbraun wear since only subsidiaries of RWE Power, which for the distribution of performance products from the brown coal (z. B. pulverized lignite ) are responsible.
Company history
The company was founded in 1898 as a trade union (later AG ) Fortuna with headquarters in Bedburg . In 1908 Fortuna merged with the Liblarer Grube Donatus and the Brühler Gruhlwerke to form the Rheinische Aktiengesellschaft für lignite mining and briquette production (RAG) based in Cologne . In 1910/12 the company entered the electricity industry through its subsidiary Rheinisches Elektrizitätswerk im Braunkohlenrevier AG and supplied a. a. the city of Cologne with electricity.
As a result, the company became a major German lignite company under the leadership of Paul Silverberg from Bedburg . In 1924 a stake in Harpener Bergbau AG was acquired , which was gradually expanded until 1933.
In the meantime, however, the company came under the spotlight of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Elektrizitätswerk (RWE), which wanted to acquire the Fortuna deposits to supplement its own rodder pit in order to be able to supply the Goldenberg power plant with lignite on a permanent basis . In 1933, after an intrigue by Friedrich Flick , Albert Vögler and Fritz Thyssen against Paul Silverberg, RWE took over the company and concluded a corporate agreement between Roddergrube and RAG.
In 1934, RAG became a founding member of Braunkohle-Petrol AG (BRABAG) and gradually acquired the largest share of shares in the company until 1944. In addition, in 1937, RAG founded Union Rheinische Braunkohlen fuel AG as a subsidiary , which, among other things, produced synthetic fuels from local lignite in Wesseling using the Bergius-Pier process .
The end of 1959 it came under pressure from the Rheinisch-Westfälische Elektrizitätswerk AG and due to the increasing economic difficulties for large merger in the Rhenish mining area: RAG and Roddergrube joined with the Lignite Industry AG from Weisweiler (now part of Eschweiler ) and the lignite mines Neurath AG from Düsseldorf under the new company Rheinische Braunkohlenwerke AG .
In 1989 the company name was changed to Rheinbraun AG . Rheinbraun was run as a wholly owned subsidiary in the RWE Group. Around 15 percent of electrical energy in West Germany was obtained from lignite from Rheinbraun AG.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/HolzweilerStop.jpg/220px-HolzweilerStop.jpg)
Rheinbraun operated its own coal rail network for coal transport , which was transferred to RWE Power. These lines are electrified with 50 Hz single-phase alternating current of 6 kV, which is why special locomotives were purchased. Today this is the only application of 50 Hz single-phase alternating current for rail traction in the old federal states. (The Höllentalbahn in the Black Forest was changed from 50 Hz to 16 2 ⁄ 3 Hz in 1960. )
After the merger between RWE and VEW in 2000, the name was changed to RWE Rheinbraun AG . In the course of this restructuring, the lignite power stations in the Rhenish lignite district were assigned to RWE Rheinbraun AG. Thus the pure lignite miner and refiner had become a lignite generator. At the same time, RWE Power AG was created, whose core business is power generation in hard coal, nuclear and run-of-river power plants.
In October 2003, as part of the restructuring of the entire RWE Group, the two electricity-generating companies RWE Rheinbraun AG and RWE Power AG were merged under the name RWE Power AG , based in Essen and Cologne .
Only the companies of some former Rheinbraun subsidiaries, which are dedicated to the sale of open-cast mining-related services and products, still contain the name "Rheinbraun".
See also
- Bucket wheel excavators from Rheinbraun, among others
- RWE information center in Paffendorf Castle with the Street of Energy
Individual evidence
- ^ Boris Gehlen: Paul Silverberg (1876-1959). An entrepreneur, Steiner, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-515-09090-2 , pp. 430-465.
- ↑ Wolfgang Benz (Ed.): Journal for History Science. Volume 51. Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2003, p. 497.
- ↑ VDI (ed.): History of technology. Volume 65. Association of German Engineers, 1998, p. 151.
- ↑ Gustav Stolper (ed.): The German economist. Journal for Politics and Economics. Volume 14. Berlin, 1938, p. 1614.
literature
- Boris Gehlen: The Rheinische Aktiengesellschaft for Lignite Mining and Briquette Production (RAG) - a family business? In: Susanne Hilger, Ulrich S. Soénius (Ed.): Networks - Succession - Social Capital. Family business in the Rhineland in the 19th and 20th centuries . Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-933025-45-6 , pp. 121-138 .
Web links
- RWE Power AG - Official website of the successor company
- www.rheinbraun-brennstoff.de - Official website of today's Rheinbraun activities
- wisoveg.de / ... - Website with extensive historical information about the Rheinbraun up to 2001
- Early documents and newspaper articles on Rheinbraun in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .