Oberbruch Industry Park
Oberbruch Industry Park (German: Industriepark Oberbruch), is a former site of Akzo Nobel in Heinsberg, Germany's most western district, near the Dutch border. It was founded in 1891 as a location for fiber industries. It is the birthplace of the German rayon and man-made fiber industry. Today, it is a diversified multi-user site, hosting companies from fields of industry such as high-performance fibers and energy technologies as well as from industrial biotechnology. Oberbruch Industry Park is the competency center for carbon (fiber) technology in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). Since 2000, the industry park has been operated by the Dutch energy company Nuon, the first independent industrial park operator not to come from the chemical industry. Since January 7, 2009 N.V. Nuon Energy has been part of Vattenfall. Rayon and man-made fibre industry Rheinische Glühlampenfabrik Dr. Max Fremery & Co Today's Oberbruch Industry Park was founded as "Rheinische Glühlampenfabrik Dr. Max Fremery & Co“. In 1891, Max Fremery, a chemist from Cologne and Johann Urban, an engineer from Austria, chose a former paper mill as their base. They intended to search for a filament that offered high efficiency in production and energy consumption and a longer life. In 1892, the two were successful in producing filaments in substantial quantities by precipitating cellulose from solution in cuprammonium hydroxide (copper(II) oxide dissolved in aqueous ammonia/sodium hydroxide). At first, the cuprammonium rayon was used as incandescent filament in light bulb production. An improved process refined the first rough and uneven filament to increase its strength and elasticity. This would enable the spinning of a material that compared to silk. In 1897, Fremery and Urban applied for a patent for their method. In the history of the textile industry, the so-called "Pauly Patent" is considered as the beginning of German rayon production. Although bulb production was discontinued in 1902, rayon production advanced on an industrial scale. Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken AG In 1899 Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken AG with headquarters in Elberfeld was founded. Eventually the Bergische trimming and braiding industry with its "Barmer Articles" became the most important buyer of Oberbruch rayon. As early as 1900, a hall accommodating 18 spinning machines opened. For the first time, a joint spinning vessel was set up in a nearby room and from there the material was pressed to the individual spinning frames and further to numerous capillary tubes. This formed the foundation of the continuous spinning process still used today. The inventor was Eduard Boos, engineer and Fremery's son-in-law. Despite the economic success of cuprammonium rayon (tenfold increase of annual production, sixfold increase of turnover, fivefold increase of manpower by 1912), the future belonged to the viscose process invented in England. In 1911, Glanzstoff acquired the viscose patent which advanced to production line status in Oberbruch. The original cuprammonium rayon was completely withdrawn in 1916. During the First World War Oberbruch was the only Glanzstoff plant to continue production at a limited level despite declining demand and a lack of labour. A lack of raw material forced the rayon industry to