United Aluminum Works

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United Aluminum Works AG (VAW)
legal form Corporation
founding April 21, 1917
resolution 2002
Reason for dissolution Integration into Norsk Hydro
Seat Berlin , Lauta , Bonn
Branch Aluminum (production and processing)

The United Aluminum-Werke AG (VAW) was a German company for the production and processing of aluminum in the legal form of a stock corporation . When it was founded in 1917 , the active seat was Berlin , from September 20, 1923 Lauta and finally Bonn . VAW was taken over and integrated by Norsk Hydro in 2002 .

history

The German Reich had before the First World War, virtually all of the required import aluminum as it is only an aluminum smelter in Rheinfelden was. Therefore, in mid-1915, it was decided to build two aluminum smelters in Rummelsburg (on the site of the Klingenberg power plant, which was built in 1925 ) and in Horrem in the Rhineland by a consortium consisting of the two companies Chemische Fabrik Griesheim-Elektron AG (CFGE) and Metallbank & Metallurgische Gesellschaft AG (a subsidiary of the metal company ). These companies had business relationships before and were linked personally by the manager Theodor Plieninger . Shortly afterwards, the decision was made to build another aluminum smelter in Bitterfeld .

As part of the Hindenburg program , the intention was to further increase aluminum production in the German Reich, for which the existing plants were not sufficient. Therefore, after further considerations, the establishment of VAW and the construction of another aluminum plant were sought. The contract negotiations were completed in January 1917 and included a. The following cornerstones: CFGE and Metallbank bring their existing aluminum smelters in Rummelsburg, Horrem and Bitterfeld into the newly founded VAW and a new aluminum smelter is built near Lauta, the Lautawerk .

VAW was then founded in Berlin on April 21, 1917 with a share capital of 50 million marks . The company's shareholders were the German Reich with 24.98 million. Mark, Curt Maeder with 10,000 marks, Friedrich Scheible with 10,000 marks, and the consortium of CFGE and Metallbank with 25 million marks.

At the end of 1919 the German Reich took over the shares of the companies involved for 15 million marks. After VIAG was founded on March 7, 1923, VAW became a subsidiary of VIAG, VAW in turn held 5% of the share capital of VIAG. In 1925, Innwerk AG received a 13.33% stake in VAW for the sale of the aluminum works in Töging am Inn .

The shares in VIAG were transferred to the Federal Republic of Germany when the Basic Law entered into force in accordance with Article 134 of the Basic Law . VIAG merged on 27 September 2000 with the VEBA for E.ON . In 2002 E.ON sold VAW aluminum AG to Norsk Hydro for 3.1 billion euros .

Use of forced labor

During the Second World War, the VAW operated eight aluminum smelters and auxiliary companies in Germany and in the occupied or connected areas. The company used around 20,000 forced laborers and prisoners of war in them. At up to 50 percent, the proportion of forced laborers was well above the national average. In the Lautawerk alone, an aluminum smelter with its own aluminum oxide and electrode factory, over 5,400 forced laborers had to work for the armaments company.

Most of the forced laborers came from Ukraine and were brought directly to the factory premises via Dresden, where several prison camps were set up. The bodies of forced laborers who were executed or otherwise died had to be dug up again from a forest behind the factory premises by former NSDAP members of the village after the end of the war and were buried in the cemetery of the Lautawerk-Süd factory settlement. Many slave laborers died in air raids on the Lautawerk by the Allies because they were not allowed to enter air raid tunnels.

Economic situation in the interwar period

The table shows the aluminum production of the VAW, the German Reich and the world for the years 1900 to 1944:

year Capacity VAW Generation VAW Paragraph VAW Generation German Empire Generation world Share of VAW
1900 0.6 7.3
1913 1.1 63.0
1915 0.029 81.7
1916 5.035 115.1
1918 13.103 179.9
1919 15.0 133.0
1922 9.3
1925 19.4
1926 23.624
1929 25.0 33.3 277.0
1932 12.0 19.3 154.0
1933 32.7 11.0 19.1 18.9 142.0 7.75
1934 37.9 25.4 36.0 37.2 171.0 14.85
1935 68.0 52.4 63.6 70.7 258.0 20.31
1936 68.7 68.6 70.6 97.4 366.0 18.74
1937 107.7 92.3 91.4 127.7 493.0 18.72
1938 134.7 114.1 110.1 165.7 589.0 19.37
1939 144.7 138.8 687.0 20.20
1940 165.0 144.0 783.0 18.39
1941 180.7 159.0 1,037.0 15.33
1942 213.9 177.9 1,394.0 12.76
1943 220.4 175.3 1,949.0 8.99
1944 220.4 169.3 1,710.0 9.90
  1. ↑ The figures for the years 1915 to 1918 come from table 6 on p. 98, for 1922 to 1926 from table 12 on p. 183, for 1929 from p. 167, for 1933 to 1939 from table 20 on p. 276, for 1940 to 1944 Tab. 42 on p. 386 and Tab. 43 on p. 388 (Peter Josef Belli)
  2. ↑ VAW's production capacity in thousands of tons of aluminum
  3. ↑ Production of VAW in thousands of tons of aluminum
  4. ↑ VAW's sales in thousand tons of aluminum
  5. ^ Production of the German Empire in thousands of tons of aluminum
  6. ↑ The production figures for the German Reich for 1900, 1913 and 1919 are taken from Table 4 on p. 43, for 1929 to 1938 from Table 5 on p. 77 (Cornelia Rauh)
  7. ↑ Worldwide production in thousands of tons of aluminum
  8. ↑ The figures for worldwide production for the years 1900, 1913, 1919, 1929 and 1932 are taken from Table 4 on p. 43 (Cornelia Rauh)
  9. ↑ VAW's share of global production in%
  10. ↑ Lautawerk: 7.6 Erftwerk: 5.895 Töging: 10.129 Total 23.624
  11. ↑ Lautawerk: 54.0 Erftwerk: 24.0 Töging: 32.5 Total 110.5

After the end of the First World War, difficult years followed. Apart from the fact that the demand for aluminum in the German Reich collapsed drastically as a result of the Allies' requirements, a fundamental problem in German aluminum production was the use of brown or hard coal to generate electricity, in contrast to foreign competitors who used the much cheaper hydropower. As a result, German aluminum production was not cost-competitive with foreign companies. After the closure of the plants in Rummelsburg and Horrem and the sale of the plant in Bitterfeld, VAW only had the plant in Lauta. Due to the high costs, there were also closure plans for the Lauta plant or plans to relocate production to the new plant in Töging. VAW's economic situation remained generally precarious until 1923.

After VIAG was founded, the economic situation for VAW was relatively good. The need for aluminum exceeded z. B. the 11,800 t produced in 1924. In the years 1924 to 1932 VAW was able to make a profit and pay dividends to VIAG. Beginning in 1929, however, VAW's situation deteriorated noticeably, as there was both a drop in sales and a drop in the price of aluminum due to the global economic crisis . The price for 1 kg of aluminum was 2.28 to 2.37 Reichsmarks in 1926 , but fell to 1.80 Reichsmarks in 1930. It fell further to 1.33 Reichsmarks until 1938, although it was kept above world market levels by the government has been. For comparison: On July 1, 1930, the German Reich introduced a tariff of 2.50 Reichsmarks per kg of imported aluminum.

From 1933 the economic situation of VAW improved again. The demand for aluminum increased noticeably and the demand exceeded production, which was initially covered by the inventories built up during the crisis years and later also by imports. This was followed by a noticeable expansion of production capacities: in the Erftwerk, without production in 1933, production was doubled from 12,000 t in 1934 to 24,000 t in 1935, and the Töging plant expanded capacity from 12,000 t in 1934 to 32,500 t in 1938. The capacities were increased again by 1938 increased, nevertheless the Reich Ministry of Economics demanded a further expansion.

Various efforts were made to meet the demand for aluminum oxide , including the Nabwerk in Schwandorf-Dachelhofen from 1936 to 1937 with an annual capacity of 65,000 tons of aluminum oxide and the Lippe Plant in Lünen.

VAW's share of total German aluminum production fluctuated in the inter-war period: it was around 78% in 1929 and around 68% in 1938.

Business premises

The operating locations are listed in chronological order (time of construction or acquisition):

  • Rummelsburg: planned production 3,000 t / year, start of production in 1915, shut down on November 9, 1918
  • Horrem: planned production 3,000 t / year, production started in 1916, shut down on February 20, 1920
  • Bitterfeld: planned production 3,000 t / year, start of production in 1916, sold on January 23, 1920
  • Lautawerk , Lauta: Start of production in 1918
  • Erftwerk AG , Grevenbroich : founded on September 16, 1916, from July 1922 100 percent subsidiary of VAW, 1932 merger with VAW
  • Töging am Inn: capacity 80,000 t / year (1985), acquired by Innwerk AG in 1925
  • Aluminum Norf GmbH , Norf bei Neuss : built in 1965, capacity 210,000 t / year (1985), shareholders: VAW and Alcan at 50% each
  • Elbewerk, Stade : capacity 68,000 t / year (1985)
  • Hamburger Aluminum-Werk GmbH, Hamburg: capacity 106,000 t / year (1985), shareholders: VAW, Reynolds and AMAG 1/3 each
  • Aluminum Oxid Stade GmbH, Stade : capacity to produce aluminum oxide 630,000 t / year (1985), shareholders: VAW and Reynolds each with 50%
  • Nabwerk , Schwandorf : Capacity for the production of aluminum oxide 140,000 t / year (1985)

literature

  • Manfred Pohl : VIAG Aktiengesellschaft 1923–1998. From state company to international group. Piper Verlag, Munich / Zurich 1998, ISBN 3-492-04036-5 .
  • Peter Josef Belli: The Lautawerk of the United Aluminum Works AG (VAW) from 1917 to 1948. LIT Verlag, Münster 2012.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Peter Josef Belli: Das Lautawerk der Vereinigte Aluminum-Werke AG (VAW) from 1917 to 1948. LIT Verlag Münster, 2012, p. 62
  2. ↑ a b Peter Josef Belli, p. 151
  3. ↑ a b c https://www.eon.com/de/presse/news/pressemitteilungen/2002/1/7/e-dot-on-verkauf-vaw-aluminium-an-norsk-hydro.html
  4. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, p. 38
  5. ↑ a b c d Peter Josef Belli, pp. 41–44
  6. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, pp. 54–55
  7. ↑ http://www.bundesarchiv.de/aktenreichskanzlei/1919-1933/1020/bau/bau1p/kap1_2/kap2_52/para3_3.html?highlight=true&search=Goldkuhle&stemming=false&pnd=&start=&end=&field=all
  8. ↑ http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_46327
  9. ↑ a b Peter Josef Belli, p. 150
  10. ↑ a b Peter Josef Belli, p. 156
  11. ↑ Peter Belli: The Viag daughter shifts responsibility . Ed .: DIE ZEIT. No. 48 . Hamburg 1999.
  12. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, p. 98
  13. ↑ a b Peter Josef Belli, p. 167
  14. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, p. 183 tab. 12, p. 276 tab. 20, p. 386 tab. 42, p. 388 tab. 43
  15. ↑ Cornelia Rauh : Swiss aluminum for Hitler's war? CH Beck, Munich 2009, p. 43 tab. 4, p. 77 tab. 5
  16. ↑ a b c Peter Josef Belli, p. 254
  17. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, pp. 107-109
  18. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, pp. 130–154
  19. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, pp. 156–170
  20. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, p. 163
  21. ↑ Cornelia Rauh, p. 57, note 170
  22. ↑ Cornelia Rauh, p. 54, note 159
  23. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, pp. 233-234
  24. ↑ a b c d Peter Josef Belli, p. 97
  25. ↑ a b Peter Josef Belli, p. 111
  26. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, p. 121
  27. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, p. 48
  28. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, p. 145
  29. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, p. 173
  30. ↑ a b c d e f g Ulrike Haas: Location perspectives of electricity-intensive productions in the Federal Republic of Germany. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1990, p. 55 tab. 9 and p. 56 tab. 10
  31. ↑ Peter Josef Belli, p. 158
  32. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 18 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hrb.at
  33. ↑ http://www.alunorf.de/alunorf/alunorf.nsf/id/wir-ueber-uns-de