THE GERMAN GOLD - AND SILVER - REFINING INSTITUTE, DEGUSSA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600360630-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 21, 2011
• Sequence Number: 630
• Publication Date: December 6, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION 'RESTRICTED ' RESTRICTED
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY German Democratic Republic
SUBJECT Economic - Chemical industry
HOW
PUBLISHED Monthly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Duesseldorf
DATE
PUBLISHED Sep 1950
LANGUAGE
THIS LOCO MINT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING INS NATIONAL DUNBAR
OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE USANINE OF t/FNINASI ACT SO
I. S. C.. 11 AND SI, AS AN[RMID. ITS TAANSNIISION ON THE RIILATION
OF ITS COMnNTS IN ANT NARMIN TO AN OSAOTNONI[5D PERSON II PRO.
NISITED BY LAW. OXFODOCTION OF THIS FORM It TSONINmS.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1950
DATE DIST. .6 Dec 19 O
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THE GERMAN GOLD- AND SILVER-
REFINING" NST'1TUTE - DEGUSSA
The end of World War II put a stop to the continuous expansion of Degussa
(DeutseheBold- and Silber -Scheiddanstalt, German Gold and Silver Refining In-
stitute), an enterprise whose establishment dates back to 1841.
Large-scale destruction of production facilities and the political partition-
ing of Germany in 1945 ruptured the former structure of Degussa. Located in
Soviet Zone Germany and in the German territories which have passed into Polish
control, the following plants, have been lost to the economy of the Western world:
Frankfurt/Oder plant: The production program included acetic acid, pro-
pr1onic acid, butyric acid, sodium acetate, amyl acetate, butyl acetate, higher
alcbhols distilled from fusel oil, softeners, ethyl ether, tincture of valerian,
tincture of ,arnicq,, etc.
Fuerstenberg/Oder plant: Carbide, methanol, ammonia, and formaldehyde. This
large enterprise was destroyed almost completely during the war and the remainder
was blown up. The grounds were confiscated.
Greifenhagen plant (Pommern, under Polish administration): CharcoAl, pyroliq-
neous acid, crude acetic acid, etc.
Vosswalde plant (Upper Silesia, Polish administration): Production program
as above.
Wildau Plant (south of Berlin): Methanol, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, hexa-
methylene tetramine, pentaerythrite, acetone cyanhydrin, wood alcohol. The enter-
prise was dismantled and expropriated. Pentaezythiite, acetone cyanhydrin, and hex-
amethylene tetramine are now being produced in the West German Mombach and Bruch-
hausen plants.
The following Degussa subsidiaries are also located in Soviet Zone Germany and
in the territory under Polish administration;,
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Atlas-Ago, G?m.b.H.(limited liability company) (Moelkau, near Leipzig).
When this enterprise was expropriated, the company's seat was transferred to
Frankfurt/Main. Since the firm has not yet established its own factory installa-
tions, the Atlas-Ago products, glues, adhesives, lacquers, etc., are being manu-
factured by the Degussa branch in Hanau, the former Deutsche Kunetlederwerke
(German Artificial Leather Works) G.m.b.H.
Carbon Chemical Plants, Ltd (Ratibor, Upper Silesia): Active carbon. At
present this item is being supplied entirely by the Brilon-Wald plant.
Gruenau Chemical Factory, Inc (Berlin-Gruenau): Medicines, cosmetics, pro-
tective materials for buildings, chemicals for the textile industry, detergents,
disinfectants, bromine, boron, iodine, and bismuth compounds. The plant is being
operated as a people-owned enterprise. The company therefore moved its seat to
Frankfurt/Main and transferred its production rights to the Tepha Association for
Pharmaceutical and Chemical Products, Ltd in Wolfgang. Tepha's corporate shares,
at their full value, are the property of Degusaa. The latter concern also owns
86 percent of the corporate capital of the Gruenau Chemical Factories.
Wachs- and Ledertuch G.m.b.H. (Treuen, Vogtiand); Oilcloth and leather cloth.
Now a people-owned enterprise, The seat was transferred to Frankfurt/Main in 1949.
It does not yet have production facilities of its own.
Hydrocarbon Company for Chemical Products Ltd (Berlin, NW 87): Manufacturers
of acetylene black. The plant in Berlin-Blankenburg (East sector) was expropriated
and nationalized. In West Berlin only a shell of the firm is left, without active
assets of any kind.
Under these circumstances the reconstruction of Degussa after the war en-
countered serious difficulties which were intensified by dismantlings, reparation
demands, etc. The large hydrogen peroxide installations in Rheinfelden (Baden),
for example, were dismantled in 1947 and shipped to the Soviet Union. Nevertheless
the management has been able, within a comparatively short period, to adapt itself
to the changed conditions and to put the enterprise on a sound basis again. For
the fiscal year ending 30 September 1949, production amounted to 86 percent of the
last prewar annual output. Exports amounted to 12.4 percent of the total output
for 1949, compared with 1.5 percent for 1948. During the first 7 months of the
current fiscal year, total exports amounted to 16.1 percent, or practically the
equivalent of the prewar figure (16.3 percent for 1938-39). Figures for chemical
exports alone are even more favorable: 21.8 percent of the total 1?49 output. The.output
ratio for the current year is given as 36.1 percent for precious metals and 63.9
percent for chemical products.
To a great extent these favorable developments are based on the fact that
the company's production is both varied and extensive. Its dual activity in
chemistry and precious metals appears to be a fortunate factor, for in the recent
difficult years, as well as in the not-so-recent past, it was the precious metal
field which served as a mainstay for the enterprise and helped it to survive all
crises. At present, Degussa has a staff of 5,500 workers and employees, 1,450
of whom work at the main plants in Frankfurt.
T:ie company's production program is essentially the same as before the war.
The two Frankfurt plants are the key enterprises. The plant in Weissfrauenstrasse
produces precious metals; precious metal salts;, such as silver nitrate; ceramic
gold, ceramic silver, copper sulfate. etc.
The plantjn the Gutleutstrasse (Frankfurt) has six factory divisions. The
cyanogen section produces sodium cyanide, cyanates, sodamide, sodium cyanamide,
and other cyanogen compounds. The pigment section turns out ceramic pigments
made of metallic oxides, enamels, and frit glazes. After the war, a new melting
installation was added to the plant and the die-mold process adopted for the man-
ufacture of glass.
1ESTSICTED
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The so-called Ms section formerly produced rare metals such as beryllium,
thorium, titanium, zirconium, and uranium. At present, this section produces
barium, strontium, and pure calcium.
The crude pharmaceutical section has recently added to its production program
Kyanmethin, which is used as a base for a new type of sulfonamide, a highly ef-
fective drug that is well tolerated. Another addition to the production pro-
gram is Tryptophan, an animo acid.
The Degussit section produces metallic oxide porcelains which meet the most
extreme thermal, chemical, electrical, and mechanical requirements.
Of the numerous Degussa subsidiaries, the following chemical plants should
be mentioned:
Knappsack Plant (near Cologne): Production of metallic sodium, chlorine, and
chloride of lime.
Rheinfelden Plant: Produces hydrogen peroxide. Production of sodium per-
borate has been resumed and a new product, sodium chlorite, has been added. The
capacity of the experimental installation for highly dispersed silicic acid has
been expanded to parmit increased production. The product, which can be used
by the rubber, dye, lacquer, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and artificial fertilizer
industries, is being put on the market under the trade name Aerosil.
Kalscheuren Plant (district of Cologne): Lampblack and all kinds of soot.
Wyhlen Plant: Calcium carbide.
Worms Plant: Lampblack, as before the war.
Bodenfelde Plant: Charcoal, pyroligneous acid, acetone, etc.
Brilon-Wald Plant: Charcoal, pyroligneous acid, crude acetic acid, active
carbon etc.
Bruchhausen Plant: Ethylracetate, methanol, formaldehyde, and pen`aeryttirite.?
Konstanz Plant: Produces ethyl ether and methionine, an amino acid wL?ich is
greatly in demand as a base for numerous pharmaceuticals for liver and gall bladder
therapy.
Mainz-Mombach Plant: Acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, formaldehyde,
acrolein, acetylene from carbide, etc. New products are hexamethyl'ene tetramine,
amyl alcohol; higher:alcoholsland: their-..esters1 potassium::gyanide,.sodium methy
late, cyahhrlc~chloride,iandiKamgkrin;; Sodium:methytlatenianinl~onsiderab'le.:4e ...
nand as.,a..base fo)rsmany,organic'syntheses. Cyanuric:chloride, is, a promising:;in-..,it;
tormediary:?productcfor.;dyeptuffm and::ttextilel.,chefiiciLls:_
Of the subsidiaries in West Germany and West Berlin, Degussa is in complete
financial control of the following:
Deutsche Kunstlederwerke G.m.b.H. (Wolfgang near Hanau): Artificial leather,
plastics, cable coverings, etc. The limited liability company was dissolved in
1948 and converted into a branch of Degussa. In a addition to the aforementioned
products, the plant manufactures adhesives, oxygen, dry lacquer compounds, soft-
eners, floor and wall coverings, and depilatories.
Dr L. C. Ma quardt (Buel/Bhein): Cadmium and bismuth, cadmium pigments, co-
balt salts, metal cyanides, copper, selenium,*thallium, zinc compounds, insecticides
white fillers for the rubber industry,. particularly Calsil, a calcium compound.
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Auer Company, Inc (Berlin): The seat of the-corporation and one plant are
located in West Berlin. The main plant, Oranienburg, is. in the Soviet Zone of
Qccupation. The Oranienburg plant has been destroyed by bombing and blasting.
Thus far the production of gas masks and of cerium and thorium compounds has not
been resumed anywhere else. The West 'Berlin enterprise is being reactivated.
gradually, and production of protective masks for miners, etc., has been started.
In Roth, near Nuernberg, production of incandescent mantles has begun; the plant
is to be transferred to Berlin. The production program of the Auer Company also
includes cosmetics, such'as Doramad toothpaste. The Auer Glass and Industrial
Company,.Ltd7, newly founded in Bad Gandersheim, produces industrial and special
glass especially Neophan sunglasses. The company was merged recently with the
Auer Company, Inc.
At present, the Degussa's board of directors includes the following: Her-
mann Schlosser, chairman; Helmut Achterath and Robert Hirtes, commercial directors;
-Dr -'Ernst Baerwi.nd, Dr Ulirich Hoffmann, and Dr Ewald von Retze, technical directors;
and Heinz Scherf (attorney), personnel and administration.
RSTRIOTEIr
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