Curt Bauer weaving mill
| Curt Bauer GmbH | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Company with limited liability |
| founding | 1882 |
| Seat | Aue , Germany |
| management | Managing partners:
|
| Number of employees | 120 (end of 2007) |
| Branch | Textile industry |
| Website | www.curt-bauer.de |
The Curt Bauer GmbH was founded in 1882 in Aue and is one of the most successful companies in the West Saxon town.
location
The company occupies an area of around 20,000 square meters in downtown Au. The company premises are bordered by Bahnhofstrasse in the west, the meandering Schwarzwasser in the north and east and Rudolf-Breitscheid-Strasse in the south. The main entrance is on Bahnhofstrasse.
history
In 1882, the Berlin textile entrepreneur Samuel Wolle bought the weaving business of the manufacturer Geißler, which had been founded in Aue in 1867. Wool transferred the management of the business to the local weaver and businessman Alwin Bauer (1856–1928). The Berlin entrepreneur had cotton processed into table linen , bed linen , ready-made fabrics, curtains and terrycloth products in his new company , which he was able to export profitably.
Alwin Bauer increased production by purchasing new looms and hiring additional employees. He ran the company successfully until 1915. When Samuel Wolle acquired a weaving mill in Eibau , Bauer relocated and ran the business there.
Now Alwin Bauer's son Curt Alwin Bauer (* March 27, 1880; † August 30, 1944) became co-owner of the Auer plant and, from 1915, sole company director. In 1920 the weaving mill received the status of a limited partnership and in honor of its founder, who died in 1906, the name " S. Wolle GmbH ". Curt Bauer had new production and social buildings built, he introduced the company health insurance and a company pension scheme. The company has now finally become a successful textile company with a good reputation in Germany and abroad. In 1926 the company changed its form to a GmbH .
Curt Bauer moved into a villa right next to the factory premises. From here he led the linen manufacture until the National Socialists came to power . Since the namesake of the factory, wool, was a Jew, the new rulers forced the renaming of the company to " Weberei Curt Bauer " in the 1930s . From 1939 onwards, the company had to vacate large parts of the production building, in which armaments were then manufactured by external companies. The weaving almost completely came to a standstill because hundreds of looms were broken down. As head of the company, Curt Bauer learned of the inhumane working conditions in the Auer armaments industry and protested against it in the city administration. The protest turned against him, Bauer was arrested and charged with undermining military strength . In order to avoid the expected reprisals, he committed suicide on August 30, 1944. The widow Margarethe Bauer remained the sole shareholder, the sons Alexander Bauer and Wolfgang Bauer (* October 10, 1908, † January 16, 1993) continued the business until the end of the Second World War . In 1945, only 45 of the former 640 looms were still operational. The number of skilled workers had decreased from 700 to 125.
With the referendum in Saxony on June 30, 1946 , the weaving mill initially remained in the private ownership of the Bauer family, whereby the Soviet occupying power recognized Curt Bauer's personal commitment. The sons rebuilt the production of weaving products, but should be forced to give up the business with high tax demands. Wolfgang Bauer therefore moved to West Germany, Alexander now managed the weaving mill alone. In 1953, an alleged high tax debt led to the arrest of Margarethe and Alexander Bauer, who were sentenced to prison terms. The popular anger that spread throughout the GDR around June 17, 1953 , now led to the release of the farmers. Alexander was able to take over the management of his company again and continue to produce successfully. He invested the operating profits in a new company kitchen, in the acquisition of a holiday property, in the construction of a company kindergarten and the establishment of a medical center. In 1957, Bauer had to accept state participation, and in 1972 the company was completely nationalized. It was renamed “ VEB Damastweberei Aue ”, and its products continued to be popular on the international market. However, hardly any investments were made in modernizing the systems. At the end of the GDR era, there was largely worn and outdated technology in the factory halls. The 700 qualified employees were facing the end. Alexander Bauer, who continued to work as a director during the VEB period, applied for reprivatisation in 1990 . In the same year he handed over the management of the weaving mill to his sons Gert Bauer (* 1962) and Michael Bauer (* 1954) for reasons of age . The reprivatisation was confirmed retrospectively in 1992, the weaving mill was renamed " Curt Bauer GmbH ". The new company owners, Michael and Gert share responsibility. Michael is responsible for marketing and sales, Gert for production and technology. The technology was modernized, the factory buildings rebuilt and new ones built, the sales system and product ranges brought up to date. In the late summer of 2002, additional expenses had to be spent on repairing the flood damage . Within a few hours the water was up to 70 cm high in the halls and damaged buildings, destroyed machines and finished goods. The total damage was around 9 million euros. With the immediate help of the city administration, the state and federal government and countless voluntary helpers, production could start again within a few weeks. In the years 2003 to 2005, large investment projects were once again implemented, which also contributed to improving environmental protection. The last-mentioned measures, worth around 7 million euros, created the basis for a successful continuation of production and long-term job security in Aue.
- The development of the company
| year | Employee | Weaving production in million square meters |
Sales according to current prices of goods in million marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1906 | 758 | ||
| 1939 | 700 | ||
| April 1945 | 125 | ||
| Late 1945 | 306 | 0.5 | 1.1 |
| 1946 | 380 | 0.9 | 2.5 |
| 1947 | 453 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| 1948 | 524 | 1.3 | 2.2 |
| 1949 | 449 | 1.4 | 3.2 |
| 1950 | 502 | 1.6 | 3.6 |
| 1951 | 601 | 2.7 | 5.0 |
| 1952 | 630 | 3.4 | 7.0 |
| 1953 | 881 | 3.5 | 8.3 |
| 1954 | 993 | 4.6 | 9.5 |
| 1955 | 1095 | 5.2 | 13.9 |
| 1990 | 700 | ||
| 2007 | 120 |
Farmer weaving mill in the 21st century
The operational areas include various preparatory areas such as sizing, weaving, pattern drawing, dyeing, mercerising, finishing and raw material and yarn storage. The main product range includes table linen and bed linen, as well as contract textiles for hotels and restaurants, church textiles, airliner textiles , jacquard fabrics, damask for clothing and technical textiles, especially for the automotive industry. Two thirds of production is exported, including to the USA, West African countries, Russia and China. Curt Bauer GmbH has its own agencies in six countries. Production is low in pollutants, and the products have had the “ Oeko-Tex Standard 100 ” seal of approval for several years . The award of the Saxon Design Award and the international award of the New Product Award in the USA in 2003 and 2004 speak for the good quality of the linen products.
The management is also involved in the city's culture and sports. The sponsorship for the renovation of the Klösterlein-cell church and the Friedenskirche should also be mentioned here, as well as the Erzgebirge handball club, which is active in the second Bundesliga. In the Vogtland town of Pausa , the subsidiary Bauer Pausa GmbH was founded in 2002 , in which bed linen is made up.
Alexander Bauer was added to the list of honorary citizens of the city, which means that his decades of commitment to preserving the weaving mill and thus for the city is publicly recognized. In 2009, the company, which was awarded the Grand Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises in 1998, received the plaque of honor from the Oskar Patzelt Foundation . The laudation says: “This company wrote textile history for over 125 years. It survived world wars, world economic crises, 40 years of socialism and expropriation and the decline of the European textile industry. Today it is represented on the West African market with shiny damasks as well as it supplies international airlines, hoteliers and restaurateurs with precision. Bed and table linen are textiles from the world. And we know that you still have a lot in the drawer. "
literature
- Empire of Inventions , published by W. Herlet, Berlin and Leipzig 1901; P. 395–408: "The weaving mill and its preparatory work"
Sources and web link
- Homepage weaving mill Bauer
- Curt Bauer GmbH - 125 years of textile tradition ; Brochure on the occasion of the company's anniversary in 2007, published by Curt Bauer GmbH , printer and publisher Mike Rockstroh, Aue
Individual evidence
- ↑ Laudation for the 2009 plaque of honor ( Memento of the original from July 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 50 ° 35 '14.73 " N , 12 ° 42' 10.94" E