A. Holtzmann & Cie.
THE ABANDONED FACTORY IN GERMANY
The ‘A. Holtzmann & Cie.’ was once one of the largest German paper manufacturer. This is its old plant in a valley of the Black Forrest.
Since the mid-16th century, the valley has been the centre of wood processing plants as well as cardboard and paper manufacturers. One of the most important people for this region was Albert Holtzmann, in 1883 he started this plant. In 1886 the factory started the production of wood pulp. Already in the following year, they started producing paper. In 1910 the second paper machine goes into operation.
New headquarters
At the start of the new century, the old plant was too small for the growing business. Construction of the new headquarters took place in 1907.
In 1997 Enso takes over the plant. One year later, Enso merged with Stora to form the large Stora Enso group. In 2006 the company was sold to Arques Industries AG from Starnberg for the symbolic price of one euro. But investment company IBET acquired the company not much later.
In the heyday of the factory, more than 300 people are employed there. However, in 2007 the paper mill was closed down due to a lack of profit. The long and successful era of paper production in the valley is over. As a result, approximately 120 employees became jobless, many of them worked here for decades. These photos are taken in 2013. Follow this link for more abandoned paper factories.
