Context:
We’d heard it being referred to as a ‘factory’ but after walking round it for a couple of hours, we were scoffing at whoever made that up. We all agreed “It’s obviously a hospital” because it was full of small rooms off of a corridor, no large production spaces. But, it turns out the info was good, and the large industrious areas were demolished some 1 years ago, leaving the admin side.
History:
Apologies if the wording seems slightly odd, I’ve been asked not to explicitly give the location but still want to give some history:
The first mechanical looms were installed here in the middle of the 19th century. From then on, it shaped the urban development in the region for over 150 years. Clothing fabrics from this town had an international reputation.
During the DDR era, the company had six factories, two factory schools and shops all over the region. Numerous other state-owned textile companies were also merged into the enterprise between 1974 to 1976, making them largest employer in the region. The core products were primarily women's clothing fabrics made from wool and silk , woven on around 500 looms
Eventually, after the German unification, all the factories had to close down. In particular, the enormous size of the company made its privatization too difficult. As a result, this factory closed down in 1994.
Modern History:
The entire ‘factory’ side was demolished in 2012. If you look hard enough you can find Dutch urbex reports of it from 2011. Thirsty for more demolition the council planned to flatten the whole lot immediately after the industrial portions had gone. The locals were not happy chappies.
A petition was addressed to the city council, which was signed by over 1,300 people objecting to the demo. They wanted the building to be sold to an investor, and protected by a new owner. They argued that this is a building constructed in the neo-classical and neo-baroque styles and is one of the largest and most architecturally valuable industrial buildings in Saxony.
The building is thus a defining feature of the old industrial town and forms a core identity of an entire region. On February 9, 2020, a local architect managed to submit a successful preservation order (the same as our ‘Listed’ building status). Luckily, almost immediately an investor had been found in late summer 2020 who wanted to convert all of the existing buildings into apartments.
In February 2020, the City council approved a sale to the investor under this premise.
Explore:
The approval is only four years old (not long in building terms) and works are well progressed. Most of the plaster has been stripped back to the bare brickwork, and thoroughly cleaned. Some walls have been demolished and made good. But works seen to have stopped.
There is a live security office on site, and seeing a fresh dog bowl of water outside kept us all on our toes. In order to evade security, I wore a security uniform. Sometimes my own genius frightens me…
Thanks for reading.
We’d heard it being referred to as a ‘factory’ but after walking round it for a couple of hours, we were scoffing at whoever made that up. We all agreed “It’s obviously a hospital” because it was full of small rooms off of a corridor, no large production spaces. But, it turns out the info was good, and the large industrious areas were demolished some 1 years ago, leaving the admin side.
History:
Apologies if the wording seems slightly odd, I’ve been asked not to explicitly give the location but still want to give some history:
The first mechanical looms were installed here in the middle of the 19th century. From then on, it shaped the urban development in the region for over 150 years. Clothing fabrics from this town had an international reputation.
During the DDR era, the company had six factories, two factory schools and shops all over the region. Numerous other state-owned textile companies were also merged into the enterprise between 1974 to 1976, making them largest employer in the region. The core products were primarily women's clothing fabrics made from wool and silk , woven on around 500 looms
Eventually, after the German unification, all the factories had to close down. In particular, the enormous size of the company made its privatization too difficult. As a result, this factory closed down in 1994.
Modern History:
The entire ‘factory’ side was demolished in 2012. If you look hard enough you can find Dutch urbex reports of it from 2011. Thirsty for more demolition the council planned to flatten the whole lot immediately after the industrial portions had gone. The locals were not happy chappies.
A petition was addressed to the city council, which was signed by over 1,300 people objecting to the demo. They wanted the building to be sold to an investor, and protected by a new owner. They argued that this is a building constructed in the neo-classical and neo-baroque styles and is one of the largest and most architecturally valuable industrial buildings in Saxony.
The building is thus a defining feature of the old industrial town and forms a core identity of an entire region. On February 9, 2020, a local architect managed to submit a successful preservation order (the same as our ‘Listed’ building status). Luckily, almost immediately an investor had been found in late summer 2020 who wanted to convert all of the existing buildings into apartments.
In February 2020, the City council approved a sale to the investor under this premise.
Explore:
The approval is only four years old (not long in building terms) and works are well progressed. Most of the plaster has been stripped back to the bare brickwork, and thoroughly cleaned. Some walls have been demolished and made good. But works seen to have stopped.
There is a live security office on site, and seeing a fresh dog bowl of water outside kept us all on our toes. In order to evade security, I wore a security uniform. Sometimes my own genius frightens me…
Thanks for reading.
