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Wacker Fabrik | Start

Aerial photograph of the Wacker Factory, the former production plant of the company Wacker & Doerr taken around 1960.

The listed brick buildings were constructed between 1902 and 1930 in the industrial style of the Wilhelminian period. At times, up to 750 employees of the company Wacker & Doerr produced fittings for electric installations. At first, these were made of ebonite, but later bakelite was employed. In the final years, Wacker & Doerr produced injection moulded parts for the automotive industry that were exported globally. In 1994, this production was moved to a modern plant and the old factory was shut down.

The project group “Culture and Communication” was founded by Ingrid and Ralf Tolski and Reiner Reese in the summer of 1994 with the aim of buying the Wacker Factory. Later this group became a company in its own right, Reese & Tolski GBR. In 1995, this private initiative began converting the factory premises into the cultural, living and business centre “Wacker Factory”. The historic appearance of the former manufacturing plant “Wacker & Doerr” is preserved in the buildings A to E, which are grouped around the western courtyard.

The first buildings to be renovated were the former administration (A), canteen (B), western house (C), machine hall (D), eastern house (E) and shed (F). The plans for renovating the buildings while preserving the historic substance were developed in a combined effort between the newly founded group “Wacker Design” and the architects involved in the project.

Under the auspices of the Darmstadt-Dieburg District Department of Historic Monuments, the new owners were presented with the District Award for Historic Monument Preservation in 1996 and the State Award for Historic Monument Preservation in Hessen in 1997.

After the first year of renovation, 6000 sq. m of the 9000 sq. m floor space were ready for occupancy. The second and final renovation phase began in mid-2000. The following buildings were converted in this phase: the former boiler house (G), the so-called zeppelin hall (H, in which the internal support structure of a zeppelin was integrated after the war), and the small shed (I). At the same time construction work began for the 17 terraced houses located along the northern and eastern edge of the site.

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