J. P. Bemberg

J. P. Bemberg was a German rayon manufacturer that produced an unusually fine artificial fiber which became known as Bemberg. J. P. Bemberg came under the control of Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken and eventually disappeared after a series of mergers and divestitures, but Bemberg rayon was still being produced in 2015 by Asahi in Japan.

Johann Heinrich Bemberg had a wine trading business in Elberfeld towards the end of the 18th century. When he died in 1790 his brother Johann Peter Bemberg (1758–1838) took over the business. In 1792 J. P. Bemberg changed the business to selling Indigo, a red dye, oil, cotton, linen and wool. He married Maria Theresia Scheibler (1774–1843) and they had a son, Julius August Bemberg, and two daughters.^[1] The business thrived, and in 1813 Bemberg took his son-in-law Friedrich Platzhoff into the company as a partner. Julius August Bemberg inherited the business when his father died in 1843, but he also died in 1847 and Friedrich Platzhoff continued to run the business on his own.^[1]

In 1865 Friedrich Platzhoff founded a new factory in Öhde, a district of Langerfeld. As the business continued to expand new factories were acquired in Barmen, Krefeld and Augsburg.^[2] For almost a century the company was known for its "Turkish Red" yarns. It was one of the first companies to engage in mercerisation of cotton yarns and fabrics, and for a long time was a leader in this field.^[3]

J. P. Bemberg began to produce artificial textile fiber commercially using the cuprammonium process in 1897.^[4] The company went public as J. P. Bemberg AG in 1903.^[2] In 1901 Dr Edmund Thiele developed a stretch-spinning system for J. P. Bemberg, which began to produce fine-filament artificial silk under the Bemberg trademark in 1908.^[5] With this process J. P. Bemberg was able to make rayon using the cuprammonium process with filaments of 1–1.5 denier, comparable to Chardonnet silk and physically superior.^[6][a] The process did not have the flammability problems of Hilaire de Chardonnet's process, but could not compete with the viscose process except where very fine filament was needed. Costs were higher than with viscose rayon due to the need to use copper salts and cotton for the cellulose.^[5]

Bemberg founded a factory using Thiele's process at Ölde, near Barmen (now part of Wuppertal).^[9] Around 1911 Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken (VGF) began to invest in J. P. Bemberg, and encouraged Bemberg to focus on producing yarns for which that process was suitable.^[10] In 1916 VGF and Bemberg agreed to exchange technology, and from that time VGF concentrated on viscose production and left cuprammonium to Bemberg.^[9] Full-scale production only began after this.^[11] Bemberg's production of rayon rose from 440 tonnes in 1922 to 3,468 tonnes in 1935.^[12]

VGF steadily increased its holdings in Bemberg and gained full control in 1925.^[10] In 1925 IG Farben acquired a stake in VGF and Bemberg.^[13] In 1927 Bemberg had about 4,000 employees.^[2] The joint venture with IG Farben lasted until the latter closed its Hölken rayon plant in 1929.^[14] In March 1928 Bemberg agreed to build a rayon factory in Siegburg, and the factory opened in the autumn of 1929. However, the Great Depression forced closure before production had ramped up, and in the end the plant remained unused.^[3] In 1929 a new German-Dutch company was created, Algemene Kunstzijde Unie (AKU), through an exchange of shares.^[15] The Dutch firm Nederlandsche Kunstzidje (Enka), VGF and Bemberg remained distinct legal entities owned by AKU as a holding company.^[16]

During World War II Bemberg concentrated on making parachute silk.^[2] 4,400 employees made up to 40 tons of silk per day. The first Polish workers came to Wuppertal to work at the Bemberg factory early in 1940.^[17] 70% of the production facilities were destroyed in an air raid on 13 March 1945.^[2]

In 1946 the company resumed operations with about 300 employees.^[2] VGF acquired 35% of J.P. Bemberg's capital in 1948.^[11] In 1955 VGF strengthened its control of Bemberg through an agreement by which it was given control of the Bemberg shares owned by its parent company AKU of the Netherlands, giving it 56% of Bemberg's shares. Engineer Funcke, chairman of the Board of Bemberg, noted that efforts to repair war damage and expand production had led Bemberg into fierce competition with its major shareholder. Bemberg was suffering from unstoppable competition from nylon and perlon.^[18]

ازدهر إنتاج البيرلون منذ عام 1962، وبلغ عدد الموظفين 3083 موظفًا في عام 1963. كانت ملكية الشركة موزعة كالتالي: 80.8% لشركة VGF، و8.7% لشركة AKU، و10.5% لشركات أخرى. وفي عام 1969، بلغ عدد الموظفين حوالي 3800 موظف. وفي العام نفسه، اندمجت شركة AKU مع الشركة الهولندية Koninklijke Zout Organon (KZO)، المتخصصة في تصنيع الطلاءات والأدوية والمنظفات، لتشكيل شركة جديدة باسم Akzo . ^{[ 19 ]} وفي عام 1971، وافقت شركة Bemberg على الاندماج مع شركة Glanzstoff AG لتشكيل شركة Enka Glanzstoff AG. ^{[ 20 ]}

عمل هاينز تروكس كمصمم في شركة بيمبرغ من عام 1936 حتى عام 1938. ^{[ 21 ]}

تم ترخيص تقنية بيمبرغ لشركة أمريكان بيمبرغ، التي تأسست في إليزابيثتون، تينيسي عام 1925. ^{[ 11 ]} بدأت أمريكان بيمبرغ بتصنيع رايون النحاس والأمونيوم في إليزابيثتون في أكتوبر 1926. ^{[ 22 ]} شهد المصنع عدة إضرابات صغيرة بين عامي 1927 و1929. ^{[ 22 ] [ 23 ]} في أغسطس 1928، افتتحت شركة أمريكان غلانزستوف، التابعة لشركة VGF، مصنعًا للفيسكوز في إليزابيثتون. بلغ عدد العاملين في المصنعين أكثر من 3000 عامل بحلول نهاية عام 1928. عانى كلا المصنعين من مشاكل عمالية طوال فترة الثلاثينيات، لكن الإنتاج نما باطراد. ^{[ 22 ]} في عام 1933، أقامت شركة أمريكان بيمبرغ عرض أزياء ارتدت فيه العارضات أقمشة منسوجة من خيوط بيمبرغ، أو من هذه الخيوط ممزوجة بالحرير أو أنواع أخرى من الرايون. ^{[ 24 ]}

زادت شركة بيمبرغ الأمريكية إنتاجها خلال الحرب العالمية الثانية ، وصنعت قماش المظلات. في أوائل عام 1942، سيطر مكتب ممتلكات الأجانب (OAP) على مصانع إليزابيثتون، لكنه لم يصادر الأصول بسبب ملكية شركة AKU القابضة الهولندية. ^{[ 22 ]} في عام 1947، نقلت AKU جميع الحقوق في كلا المصنعين إلى مكتب ممتلكات الأجانب، وفي ديسمبر 1948، بيعا إلى شركة بيونيت ميلز في نيويورك. ^{[ 22 ]} انخفض الطلب على الحرير الصناعي بعد الحرب. في خمسينيات القرن العشرين، بدأ مصنع بيمبرغ في تصنيع البوليستر. ^{[ 25 ]} بحلول أوائل سبعينيات القرن العشرين، كان مصنع بيمبرغ يعاني من ضائقة مالية شديدة، ولم يتمكن من تلبية مطالب وكالة حماية البيئة الأمريكية بخفض انبعاثات النفايات السامة . بيع المصنع مرارًا وتكرارًا، ثم أعلن إفلاسه في 16 فبراير 1974. ^{[ 22 ]}

The technology developed by Thiele for Bemberg was used in Italy by Bemberg SpA of Gozzano in 1924 and in France by Le Cupro textile of Rennes.^[11] Manufacturing of cuprammonium yarn began at British Bemberg in Doncaster, UK, in 1926. The firm was sequestrated by the British government in 1939.^[26] In 1928 the technology was licensed to Asahi Bemberg of Nobeoka, Japan.^[11]Asahi Kasei started operations at the newly built Bemberg factory in Nobeoka in 1931, and made its first shipment on 27 June 1931.^[4] By 1970 a total of four plants were producing rayon with the cuprammonium process. J.P. Bemberg in Wuppertal produced 27 tonnes/day; Beaunit Fibers in Elizabethton produced 25 tonnes/day; Bemberg SpA in Gozzano produced 14 tonnes/day and Asahi Chemical Industries Co in Nobeoka produced 80 tonnes/day. By 2000 only Asahi was still producing rayon in this way.^[27] By May 2011 Bemberg SpA was insolvent and the city of Gozzano was struggling to find purchasers for the real estate and machinery.^[28] As of 2015 Asahi Kasei Fibers Corporation was still producing rayon under the Bemberg™ brand.^[4]