Wickrath leather factory
| Niederrheinische AG for leather production (formerly Z. Spier) since 1939: Wickrather Lederfabrik AG |
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|---|---|
| legal form | Stock company (since 1889) |
| founding | 1855 |
| resolution | 1990 |
| Seat | (Mönchengladbach-) Wickrath |
| management | Zacharias Spier (1836–1901) |
| Number of employees | Max. 500 |
| Branch | Leather processing |
The Wickrather leather factory was one of the largest leather factories in Germany. It emerged from a tannery in Wickrath that was taken over by Zacharias Spier (1836–1901) in 1855 , which was converted into the Niederrheinische AG für Lederfabrikation (formerly Z. Spier) in 1889 and was called Wickrather Lederfabrik AG since 1939 . The company went bankrupt in 1990 . Part of the factory facilities were retained and converted.
Company history
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In 1855, Zacharias Spier acquired one of three small tanneries in Wickrath. The entry in the commercial register followed in 1864 . Thanks to good international relations, for example to the USA , and the use of the most modern technology at the time, the company was able to grow steadily and soon to become one of the largest leather factories in Germany. As part of further expansion, the company was converted into a stock corporation on February 14, 1889 , the name of the company was Niederrheinische AG für Lederfabrikation (formerly Z. Spier) .
After the First World War , which brought with it the extensive loss of foreign sales areas, business was still good after overcoming high inflation , and the company also survived the global economic crisis from 1929 despite considerable losses. The heirs of Spier owned the majority of the shares and formed the executive board with Louis Spier and Victor Spier . In 1932 the handbook of the German stock corporations described the company 's production as follows: “This covers all finer types of cowhide for shoes, portfolios , suitcases, bags and furniture, for wagon builders and saddlers , as well as columns of all kinds, and they are also large Quantities of lacquered leather produced for all purposes. "
According to the Nuremberg Laws, the Spier family was considered to be Jewish and should be forced out of the company. In 1936 the company management was investigated for "foreign exchange offenses and attempted tax evasion", as a result the company was "Aryanized" and the Spier family emigrated . In 1939 it was also renamed Wickrather Lederfabrik AG . Up to 500 people were employed in the years before the Second World War . The production facilities were badly damaged during the war.
The Spier family returned in 1948, but the weakened company, with only around 200 employees at that time, was unable to recover. In the 1950s, due to the ever decreasing demand for real leather, the first parts of production were discontinued, and the centenary celebrating five years earlier could not hide the obvious problems.
The conversion into a contract tannery as a predominantly British trading company in 1974 was the last unsuccessful attempt to save the company. In 1990 the Wickrather Lederfabrik AG filed for bankruptcy.
Todays use
The large, multi-storey main building on the corner of Beckrather and Wickrathberger Strasse has been fundamentally rebuilt and has retained its historic stone facade on the street side. It now houses numerous apartments and business premises. Most of the factories on the site have disappeared, and large parking lots have been created instead. There is also a brewery , various supermarkets, medical practices and, in a remaining factory hall, the KUNSTWERK® event center with the Red Crocodile live stage . Some of the leather factory buildings still preserved, including the main building, were added to the monuments list of the city of Mönchengladbach on September 17, 1991 under the number B 126.
literature
- Handbook of German Stock Companies , 37th edition 1932, Volume III, p. 4323.
- Handbook of German Stock Companies , 48th edition 1943, Volume V, pp. 4395–4398.
- City archive Mönchengladbach (ed.), Günter Erckens: Jews in Mönchengladbach. Jewish life in the former communities of M. Gladbach, Rheydt, Odenkirchen, Giesenkirchen-Schelsen, Rheindahlen, Wickrath and Wanlo. Volume 2, Mönchengladbach 1989, p. 305 ff.
Web links
- Event hall KUNSTWERK® with Theater Rotes Krokodil , accessed on January 3, 2017
- Early documents and newspaper articles about the Wickrath leather factory in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Individual evidence
- ^ Monuments list of the city of Mönchengladbach (PDF), accessed on December 11, 2017
Coordinates: 51 ° 7 ′ 37.5 ″ N , 6 ° 24 ′ 41.1 ″ E