Rotaprint
The printing machine manufacturer Rotaprint was based in the former Berlin district of Wedding (today: Gesundbrunnen district ) and is considered a pioneer of small offset printing .
Company history
In 1904 Rotaprint's predecessor, the Deutsche Maschinen Vertriebsgesellschaft, was founded. Initially based in Sophienstrasse, the company began producing at Reinickendorfer Strasse 46 in 1916 and had a lasting impact on the block between Gottschedstrasse and Wiesenstrasse in the decades that followed .
As early as 1906, the company was producing the “Viktoria” copier, a crank machine for 10–12 copies. In 1912 the "Viktoria Record" came onto the market, in 1918 the "Viktoria 18". Duplication was a sought-after technique in the years after the First World War . In 1922 the first Rotaprint offset printing and duplicating machine was produced, a duplicating machine with manual operation that translated the still little-known offset printing process to small format. This machine with an electric motor was introduced in 1923: Rotaprint had invented the first small offset printing machine. In 1926 the Deutsche Maschinen Vertriebsgesellschaft was renamed Rotaprint GmbH, and in 1929 Rotaprint AG . During these years Rotaprint developed the technology further: the Rotaprint roll printer DIN A4 with feeding device, with cutting device, with perforating device, then the Rotaprint R 30 as a batch printer DIN A3 . Over 300 employees worked in the factory on the production of small offset printing machines.
During the Second World War , the company switched to armaments production. Rotaprint machines were "vital to the war effort". The company employed slave labor. After the Allied air raids in 1945, 80 percent of the production facilities were destroyed.
In 1951 the low-rise buildings on Gottschedstrasse were erected in place of the destroyed front buildings in order to be able to cope with the growing production. In the same year, the Rotaprint-Express, a demonstration vehicle with a moving exhibition, went on a tour of Germany and advertised the new technology. Rotaprint now had around 500 employees again. The R 20 was developed for the DIN A2 format, the R 40 with suction feeder for brochure printing. From 1953, additional plots of land were purchased inside the block to build production halls. In 1954 Rotaprint AG celebrated its 50th anniversary. In the second half of the 1950s, Rotaprint had up to 1,000 employees, and 60 percent of production was exported .
During these years, Rotaprint set about giving the entire site a modern identity with sophisticated new buildings. Most of these buildings were designed by the architect Klaus Kirsten .
In 1956, the cross bar in courtyard at Gottschedstrasse 4 was restored in its old volume. The result is Klaus Kirsten's glass “technical office”. 1957–1958 an administration building with an assembly hall was built at Wiesenstrasse 29 by Otto Block . 1957–1959 Klaus Kirsten built a new complex on the corner of Gottschedstrasse and Bornemannstrasse. A conspicuous head building was created here, which remains unfinished, a five-story office building with a grid facade and an assembly hall with a glass staircase. 1958–1959, a five-story carpentry and training workshop building was also built according to plans by Klaus Kirsten on the property at Reinickendorfer Straße 44/45.
In the 1950s and 1960s the Rotaprint company experienced a boom, as it was exemplary for the economic miracle in Germany after the Second World War. In 1968 director Paul Glatz received an award for international economic cooperation. Export continued to be an important pillar of the company. In the 1970s the company began to stumble. The advent of the photocopier and later the personal printer replaced the small offset printing machine and pushed it out of the market. In the mid-1980s, the company was in debt. The state of Berlin acquired the approximately 36,000 m² site from the Rotaprint company at market value in the hope of being able to maintain the Weddinger business for the district. In 1988 there was one last hope when an American investor joined the company. In 1989 what was then the world's oldest small offset printing press factory went bankrupt . In October 1989 the company inventory was auctioned off. The area fell to the Wedding district , which took over management.
Rotaprint factory monument
In 1991 the large depot at Gottschedstrasse 4 at the corner of Bornemannstrasse 9/10 and the separate building at Wiesenstrasse 29 were placed under strict monument protection by state curator Helmut Engel . The production halls inside the block did not receive this protection and were demolished in 1992.
The former premises of Rotaprint AG, registered under the name Rotaprint-Fabrik , include commercial buildings from around 1904 as well as striking post-war modern buildings from the 1950s. As a unique industrial historical architectural monument, the site has ensemble protection.
Reuse of the location
The area Gottschedstrasse 4 at the corner of Bornemannstrasse 9/10 has been managed by ExRotaprint gGmbH since 2007 and offers space for businesses, artists and social institutions. The studio house at Wiesenstrasse 29 was taken over by the Wiesenstrasse 29 eG cooperative in 2009. The fallow land created by the demolition of the production halls was divided up. The areas at Uferstrasse 19/20 and Bornemannstrasse 15 belong to the state-owned housing association GESOBAU AG . The space at Reinickendorfer Strasse 41 and Wiesenstrasse 31 was acquired by the discounter Lidl in 2004 .
literature
- Ernst Jaster: From Gutenberg to Rotaprint , published by Rotaprint on the 50th anniversary of its existence, 1954
Web links
- Rotaprint on luise-berlin.de
- Website of ExRotaprint gGmbH
- Website of Wiesenstrasse 29 eG
- Early documents and newspaper articles on Rotaprint in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry in the Berlin State Monument List
- ^ Benedikt Hotze: An airport tower on the banks of the Panke . In: taz , March 24, 2007
- ↑ Benedikt Hotze: Searching for traces in the Hansaviertel (PDF; 2.9 MB). In: Baunetzwoche No. 28, May 11, 2007
- ↑ ExRotaprint gGmbH
- ↑ Christoph Villinger: The pearl of weddings. In: Mieterecho 321 / April 2007
- ^ Joachim Faust: Location factor problem area: ExRotaprint. On: panke.info , September 21, 2009
- ↑ Wiesenstrasse 29 eG
Coordinates: 52 ° 32 ′ 59.6 ″ N , 13 ° 22 ′ 12.6 ″ E