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Leuna works
The Leuna works (German: Leunawerke) in Leuna, Saxony-Anhalt, is one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes in Germany. The site, now owned jointly by companies such as TotalEnergies, BASF, Linde plc, and DOMO Group, covers 13 km2 and produces a very wide range of chemicals and plastics.
Ammonia is an important intermediate product for the manufacture of nitric acid and other nitrogen compounds, needed to produce fertilizers and explosives in particular. The increasing demand for explosives during World War I exceeded the ammonia production capacities of the Oppau works of BASF, who owned the patents for the Haber process. Leuna in central Germany, out of range of French aircraft, was selected as the location of a second plant named Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik, Ammoniakwerk Merseburg. Construction started on 25 May 1916, and the first tank car with ammonia left the works in April 1917.
In 1920, the ammonia works of Leuna and Oppau merged into Ammoniakwerke Merseburg-Oppau GmbH.
The proximity of the site to lignite (brown coal) mines was also advantageous for the production of syngas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide) and tests of coal conversion into liquid fuels on an industrial scale. The Leuna plant for the commercial hydrogenation of lignite started production on April 1, 1927.
In late 1925, BASF became a branch of IG Farben, operating as Ammoniakwerk Merseburg GmbH – Leuna Werke. The site was rapidly expanded in the 1920s and 1930s, with plants producing methanol, synthetic petrol derived from the hydrogenation of lignite, amines and detergents. The synthesis of petrol, although expensive compared to world market prices, was pursued in order to reduce Germany's dependency on imported oil products. As Germany possesses very few petroleum deposits of its own, seven hydrogenation plants were constructed and were producing synthetic petrol by 1939, Leuna being the largest.
Construction of the Buna Werke Schkopau synthetic rubber plant, then a subsidiary of Leuna ammonia works, started in 1936.
Following the Kapp Putsch the Leuna works were a centre of organising by the Communist Workers' Party of Germany (KAPD) and the associated workplace organisation the General Workers' Union of Germany (AAUD) to which half of the 20,000 workforce belonged. Peter Utzelmann co-ordinated the strike committee during the March Action in March 1921.
As one of the largest synthetic oil plants and second most extensive chemical operation in Nazi Germany, the IG Farben Leuna works headed by Heinrich Bütefisch was a prime target for the Allied bombing offensive against German oil production. Leuna had been the first plant to test the Bergius process, which synthesized oil products from lignite, but switched to brown coal tar in 1944, due to air raid damages. Leuna covered 3 square miles (7.8 km2) of land with 250 buildings, including decoy buildings outside the main plant, and employed 35,000 workers, including 10,000 prisoners and forced labourers.[citation needed] The 14th Flak Division responsible for protecting Leuna had 28,000 troops, 18,000 RAD personnel, 6,000 male and 3,050 female auxiliaries, 900 Hungarian and Italian 'volunteers', 3,600 Russian Hiwis, and 3,000 others, thus making up a total of 62,550 persons. More than 19,000 of Leuna's workers were members of the air raid protection organization which operated over 600 radar-directed guns, while the fire-fighting force consisted of 5,000 men and women.[citation needed]
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Leuna works
The Leuna works (German: Leunawerke) in Leuna, Saxony-Anhalt, is one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes in Germany. The site, now owned jointly by companies such as TotalEnergies, BASF, Linde plc, and DOMO Group, covers 13 km2 and produces a very wide range of chemicals and plastics.
Ammonia is an important intermediate product for the manufacture of nitric acid and other nitrogen compounds, needed to produce fertilizers and explosives in particular. The increasing demand for explosives during World War I exceeded the ammonia production capacities of the Oppau works of BASF, who owned the patents for the Haber process. Leuna in central Germany, out of range of French aircraft, was selected as the location of a second plant named Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik, Ammoniakwerk Merseburg. Construction started on 25 May 1916, and the first tank car with ammonia left the works in April 1917.
In 1920, the ammonia works of Leuna and Oppau merged into Ammoniakwerke Merseburg-Oppau GmbH.
The proximity of the site to lignite (brown coal) mines was also advantageous for the production of syngas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide) and tests of coal conversion into liquid fuels on an industrial scale. The Leuna plant for the commercial hydrogenation of lignite started production on April 1, 1927.
In late 1925, BASF became a branch of IG Farben, operating as Ammoniakwerk Merseburg GmbH – Leuna Werke. The site was rapidly expanded in the 1920s and 1930s, with plants producing methanol, synthetic petrol derived from the hydrogenation of lignite, amines and detergents. The synthesis of petrol, although expensive compared to world market prices, was pursued in order to reduce Germany's dependency on imported oil products. As Germany possesses very few petroleum deposits of its own, seven hydrogenation plants were constructed and were producing synthetic petrol by 1939, Leuna being the largest.
Construction of the Buna Werke Schkopau synthetic rubber plant, then a subsidiary of Leuna ammonia works, started in 1936.
Following the Kapp Putsch the Leuna works were a centre of organising by the Communist Workers' Party of Germany (KAPD) and the associated workplace organisation the General Workers' Union of Germany (AAUD) to which half of the 20,000 workforce belonged. Peter Utzelmann co-ordinated the strike committee during the March Action in March 1921.
As one of the largest synthetic oil plants and second most extensive chemical operation in Nazi Germany, the IG Farben Leuna works headed by Heinrich Bütefisch was a prime target for the Allied bombing offensive against German oil production. Leuna had been the first plant to test the Bergius process, which synthesized oil products from lignite, but switched to brown coal tar in 1944, due to air raid damages. Leuna covered 3 square miles (7.8 km2) of land with 250 buildings, including decoy buildings outside the main plant, and employed 35,000 workers, including 10,000 prisoners and forced labourers.[citation needed] The 14th Flak Division responsible for protecting Leuna had 28,000 troops, 18,000 RAD personnel, 6,000 male and 3,050 female auxiliaries, 900 Hungarian and Italian 'volunteers', 3,600 Russian Hiwis, and 3,000 others, thus making up a total of 62,550 persons. More than 19,000 of Leuna's workers were members of the air raid protection organization which operated over 600 radar-directed guns, while the fire-fighting force consisted of 5,000 men and women.[citation needed]