Rock factory Ludwigsburg

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Rock factory in Ludwigsburg. The parabolic antenna was once used by B.TV

The Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg ("Rofa" for short) was an entertainment center with a focus on rock music, which existed from 1983 to 2019 in Ludwigsburg's Weststadt.

history

The rock factory was opened on November 30, 1983 after a year-long renovation in the halls of a former refrigerator factory, from which the name is derived. Founder was the former wrestler and wrestler Roland Bock . The idea behind this was at that time Otto Rossbacher, who later took over the management together with Christian Albrecht through Rofa Gastronomie GmbH. In 1987 Wolfgang "Hasche" Hagemann, the former drummer and founding member of the German heavy metal band Running Wild, joined the team as event manager and business manager.

Club 2 on the 2nd floor
Club 1 on the ground floor

The interior design could be described as rustic and gloomy. Between 2002 and 2003, another major renovation took place, within which, in addition to the second club room on the second floor, a game room was built on the first floor. The bars and restaurants have also been modernized.

Music of different styles was offered on each of these two levels. In addition to heavy metal , nu rock , classic rock and industrial , themed parties on other musical styles took place.

The premises of the Rockfabrik were rented from the Max-Maier-Immobiliengesellschaft right from the start and, after successful negotiations, the rental contracts were usually concluded for five years. The last contract ended at the end of 2019. Negotiations for an extension could not be started at first. After initially different reports, a new contract was ruled out by the real estate company's lawyers in the summer of 2019 and the evacuation and handover in the original state by the end of the year was requested. Guests, artists and local politicians criticized the impending closure and criticized the landlord's unwillingness to talk. An online petition to extend the rental agreement received over 31,000 signatures within a few weeks. In September around 2000 people took part in a demonstration to preserve the rock factory in Ludwigsburg.

Mourning candles for the end of the Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg after the New Year's Eve party

The Rockfabrik was closed after the 2019/2020 New Year's Eve party. The inventory is to be sold.

Live bands

Well-known bands have played in the Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg since the 80s and 90s - including Manowar , Nazareth , Doro , Hammerfall , In Extremo , Subway to Sally , Helloween , Wishbone Ash , Testament , Anthrax , Metal Church , Demon , Slayer , Motörhead , Lacrimosa , Running Wild, Sinner , Six Feet Under , Nightwish , Lordi and UDO Even bands like Volbeat , Kissin Dynamite and Unheilig were on stage in the Rockfabrik before they became known to a wide audience. As a magnet for rock and metal greats, members of Metallica , Def Leppard , the Scorpions or Iron Maiden could also be welcomed as party guests. Probably the strangest performance was the performance of the band Sodom in 2011, which took place together with Roberto Blanco and whose recordings for a commercial for the Deutsche Alzheimer Gesellschaft e. V. were used. Most recently, the Rofa appeared primarily as a supporter of larger rock concerts in the area.

Others

Live performance of the band Iced Earth in December 2012

A few years after it was founded, further rock factories opened in Heilbronn as well as in Kehl , Nuremberg and Augsburg . Today only the rock factory in Augsburg still exists.

In a band photo on the back of the cover of the album Master of Puppets by the American heavy metal band Metallica from 1986, guitarist Kirk Hammett is wearing a red T-shirt from the Ludwigsburg rock factory under a black vest.

The Stuttgart author and director Kai Thomas Geiger published a book called autoreverse in 2013 , in which he reproduces the experiences of his youth, to which the rock factory Ludwigsburg made a significant contribution, from the perspective of the protagonist Marc.

Web links

Commons : Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rock factory. In: stuttgart-informationen.de. Retrieved November 28, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Philipp Obergassner: Rockfabrik in Ludwigsburg turns 35: It gets particularly loud for a birthday . In: stuttgarter-nachrichten.de . ( stuttgarter-nachrichten.de [accessed on November 28, 2018]).
  3. ↑ Crew | Rock factory Ludwigsburg. Retrieved November 26, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Martin Tröster: Rockfabrik: "My dream is an ABBA concert" . In: swp.de . December 10, 2016 ( swp.de [accessed November 26, 2018]).
  5. ↑ Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgart Germany: Future of the cult disco: The rock factory is allowed to stay. Retrieved June 19, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgart Germany: Legendary disco in Ludwigsburg on the brink of collapse: The rock factory is on the brink. Retrieved June 19, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Tim Höhn: The rock factory is allowed to stay. In: Stuttgarter Zeitung. April 23, 2019, accessed January 11, 2010 .
  8. ↑ Tim Höhn, Michael Bosch: It's getting dark around the rock factory. In: Stuttgarter-Zeitung. June 26, 2019, accessed August 30, 2019 .
  9. ↑ a b Tim Höhn: Rescue attempt for legendary disco - Will the city buy the rock factory? In: Stuttgarter Zeitung . September 11, 2019, accessed September 24, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Heidi Vogelhuber: Demo for the rock factory - "We want to know why he closes the Rofa". In: Stuttgarter Zeitung. September 20, 2019, accessed September 24, 2019 .
  11. ^ Petition page: Extension of the rental contract for the Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg. In: openPetition . Retrieved September 24, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Frank Klein: Powerful demonstration for the preservation of the rock factory. In: Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung . September 23, 2019, accessed September 24, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Michael Bosch: Rockfabrik sells its interior. In: Stuttgarter Zeitung. December 4, 2019, accessed January 11, 2010 .
  14. ↑ History | Rock factory Ludwigsburg. Retrieved November 26, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Theo: Lordi, Follow The Cipher, Silver Dust - The concert report from the Ludwigsburg Rockfabrik - BurnYourEars Webzine . ( burnyourears.de [accessed November 26, 2018]).
  16. ↑ Kathrin Haasis: 30 years of rock factory Ludwigsburg: From refrigerator factory to rock discotheque . In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de . ( stuttgarter-zeitung.de [accessed on November 26, 2018]).
  17. ^ Roberto Blanco & Sodom ›venue music . ( venue.de [accessed on November 28, 2018]).
  18. ↑ Roberto Blanco disoriented at a heavy metal concert - video . In: FOCUS Online . ( focus.de [accessed on November 26, 2018]).
  19. ↑ The existence of the rock factory in Ludwigsburg seriously threatened in the news on www.metal-hammer.de ( Metal Hammer ), June 13, 2019
  20. ↑ autoreverse | A novel by Kai Thomas Geiger. Retrieved November 26, 2018 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 53 ′ 33.3 "  N , 9 ° 10 ′ 9"  E