Cologne - Stollwerck

Cologne is the fourth-largest city in Germany - and one of the oldest. A Germanic tribe, the Ubii, had a settlement here, this was named by the Romans "Oppidum Ubiorum". In 50 AD, the Romans founded "Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium", the city then became the provincial capital of "Germania Inferior".
In 1839 Franz Stollwerck started to produce chocolate and other candy, having particular success with cough drops. His business flourished and over the decades the large factory started a highly sophisticated process in producing chocolate products.

His sons expanded the business, which in 1890 had 1500 staff in Cologne, into a multinational corporation. In the 1930s the Great Depression devastated the company´s finances and so marked the end of the family's ownership. In 1949, after WWII, the production was restarted and in the 1970s it was really successful again. It was decided to move out from the old production site to new premises in Köln-Porz.

As the result, there were more than 50.000 m² of lands inside the city now "open" for development. Many locals protested against the planning to demolish most of the buildings and in 1980 these were squatted by about 600 people. They stayed in the barricaded factory buildings for 49 days. It took that long to discuss the matter and find a compromise. One of the outcomes was to have the site used for a large public housing project.

Inbetween the apartment buildings are some reminders of the past.

To cool down the chocolate during the process large compressors were needed. The compressors were driven by these flywheels.