Location: Germany Gender: Male Total Likes: 514 likes
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Abandoned Carton Factory, Eastern Germany - January, 2017 < on 12/5/2017 3:19 PM > | Reply with Quote
We couldn’t have imagined a better start of our urbex year 2017. Last winter, we explored an old factory right on our doorsteps. We couldn’t believe that all these machines were left behind. Once, this was a successful seat of industry. Today the building is the last remnant of a bygone era.
Right at the beginning of our exploration we realized that we weren’t alone inside the factory. A young man was working in the halls. We thought we got busted right away. But as it turned out this guy was a metal thief. Obviously he didn’t want to get filmed. The man said he was building something at home and he needed those parts. Anyway, at least he could tell us something about the place and those machines before he left.
This plant in Eastern Germany was mainly used for producing and processing cardboard but also packaging materials made of paper and carton. We found remnants all over the place which proved that.
When we visited the site there were only few traces of vandalism. Meanwhile, the situation has changed. It’s said that you wouldn’t recognize the place now. Fortunately, we have explored the abandoned factory earlier than those vandals. Only a few months before our visit the company went bankrupt. Three years after it was founded.
The history of this industrial site dates back to the 19th century. A German mechanical engineer built a factory right here around 150 years ago. Straw pulp for paper was produced in the plant. A short period of time later a machine shop was built vis-à-vis. Since he was very interested in the manufacture of cars which was just beginning to arise, he had his own automobile brand built in the factory. In 1900, the first Saxon car was completed. It was named after the production location. Or rather: Our former home town.
Due to the global economic crisis many years later the manufacturing of the cars had to be stopped. After World War 2, the Soviet Occupying Troops disassembled large sections of the area, but production of straw pulp continued. After a horrible accident in 1983 contaminated waste water had been drained into the nearby large river. And that for seven years. There were new environmental regulations when Eastern and Western Germany reunited, so the factory had to shut down. Till today every building has been torn down. Only this last remaining factory hall is a witness of the former huge industrial center.
