Zeitz has a really interesting industrial culture that you should definitely discover. We took a look around the former Herrmannschacht briquette factory. A really exciting excursion to the oldest preserved briquette factory of the first generation!
The origins of the Herrmannschacht briquette factory
A sugar factory was built in Zeitz in 1858. The factory director Richard Herrmann had lignite fields 65 metres deep tapped in the immediate vicinity of Zeitz to provide the necessary energy. In 1880/81 a railway coal loading station was built opposite the sugar factory. This was connected to the shaft by a cableway. From 1883, the cableway ended directly in the boiler house of the briquette factory, which was given the name of the factory owner.
Initially, a wet pressing factory for briquette production existed here. In 1889, this was replaced by a modern briquette factory. The pulverised lignite was turned into briquettes here only by pressing without the addition of binding agents. Modern equipment such as huge plate dryers and presses made the work easier.
Briquettes were produced here until 1959 without any fundamental modernisation of the plant. In 1961, the plant was listed as a historical monument. Nevertheless, individual parts of the plant were dismantled.
In 1994, the association “Mitteldeutscher Umwelt- und Technologiepark e.V.” (Central German Environment and Technology Park) was founded. (MUT) and began to gradually reconstruct the plant.
Come and see the facilities
…that is not quite so simple. Today, the site is located in the middle of an industrial area and can only be entered through a security fence. So please don’t be deterred and simply ask to be let in at the “bell button” on the fence. Staff will then open the gate and you can walk the 50 metres to the site.
Right at the entrance are the first “gems” that make railway enthusiasts’ eyes shine: a diesel locomotive and a steam locomotive.
On the day of our visit, the Founders’ Market was taking place on the site. We had the opportunity to discover the Herrmannschacht briquette factory on a guided tour before the gates opened to the public. And there was really a lot to see that I had no idea about at all. I have never used briquettes for heating, and up to that point I had never been involved in the production of briquettes.
It was quite impressive to follow the path of the mined coal in the factory plant. From the loading station, to the crusher – it crushes the coal, to the plate dryer to the single-extrusion press. At each station we were given detailed information about the process flow of the production. I found it very amazing how big individual plant components were.
While we were on our tour, we met contemporary witnesses who still collected briquettes here as children with a handcart and later even worked here. The stories they told made the disused Herrmannschacht briquette factory much more vivid and brought us much closer to the process.
Model railway
A small highlight of the exhibition lies almost unnoticed at the edge of the grounds. Here, a club member has built a huge model railway with a lot of passion. The layout had become too big for his own rooms and here he was able to use the space.
Since it was difficult to get tracks in GDR times, he made them himself from old curtain rails.
Unfortunately, the layout is now at a standstill because no one has the time or the know-how to take care of it. The association would certainly be pleased to hear from railway enthusiasts who would like to spend their free time here and get the railway going again.
Oven exhibition
Before we said goodbye to the Herrmannschacht briquette factory, we went to another exhibition that really excited me. The oven exhibition is located in the former tower house of the plant.
Here we first admired decorative briquettes. These were elaborately embossed with texts and pictures by the briquette factory. The embossing was then coloured by hand. Of course, these jewellery pieces were not meant to be burnt, but were intended as gifts. On special occasions, such as the opening of factory buildings or anniversaries, the lignite pieces were given as gifts. In GDR times, political messages were often written on the briquettes.
Of course, you can also discover a wide variety of ovens in the stove exhibition. Many of the ovens are heated with wood or briquettes. I admit, even if I don’t like to cook on them, I could imagine the stoves themselves as a beautiful decorative element in the home.
Attention: The Hermannschacht briquette factory can only be visited on a guided tour!
Address:
Naumburger Straße 99
06712 Zeitz
herrmannschacht@t-online.de
Website
Guided tours:
Mai – Oktober:
Dienstag – Freitag 10:00 Uhr / 12:00 Uhr
Samstag 15:00 Uhr
Sonntag 10:00 Uhr
November – April:
Führungen nur nach vorheriger Anmeldung
Admission fees:
Adults: 7,-€
Discounts are offered.
Disclosure: The visit to Zeitz took place as part of the blogger trip to the Saale-Unstrut region. The visit to the Herrmannschacht briquette factory was free of charge for us. Thank you very much! The report corresponds to our own impressions and was written independently.
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