Rubber Factory H.

This factory belonged to one of the largest employers in the region.
It was founded in 1870 and produced in this facility until 2009, when the production was relocated.
The origins date back to about 1850 when - a decade after his brother Charles Goodyear discovered the process of vulcanization - Nelson Goodeyr discovered Ebonite (hard rubber).
The son of an industrial pioneer purchased the patents for the European market.
His brother, in turn, collaborated with two other industrialists in 1856 and together they founded the "Rubber Comb Company" on the site of the location I was able to visit this weekend.

In 1870, a company producing similar goods was founded in an another part of the region and took over the "Rubber-Comb-Company" in 1929.
After the war, the facilities of the new parent company were almost completely destroyed, so soon after the war the production was relocated into the buildings of the subsidiary.
The rubber combs produced in this facility were appreciated by hairdressers worldwide.

The historic factory buildings are beautifully located right at the city's inland harbor.
Next to the rubber combs, the factory also produced rubber casting molds and also mouthpieces for clarinets by traditional production methods with a lot of manual labor.
In 2009, the company moved the entire production and the about 200 employees to a new, modern facility south of the city. The company also informed its clients that the rubber comb production was to be discontinued for economic reasons. Because of the high demand though, production was started again only a few months later.
The old factory buildings, that were a home to the company for 150 years, are in part placed under landmark ststus and monument protection, but the further use is unclear due to the nitrosamine contamination of the walls.

The building is under monument protection and since 2009, various investors that wanted to turn it into apartments have backed out because of the massive nitrosamine contamination of the building walls.

Visited: February 22, 2014 / June 1, 2014

Location: Undisclosed, Germany

Status: Abandoned