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Former Reemtsma tobacco factory

The Reemtsma tobacco factory was built in 1958/59, and allotment gardens had to give way to the only large industrial facility in what was then the Wilmersdorf district. Most recently it produced 16 billion cigarettes a year. In June 2008, the Imperial Tobacco Group announced the closure of the plant, which last had 420 jobs. The factory was finally closed in 2012 and production was relocated to Poland and Lower Saxony.

In 2014 Wohnkompanie Berlin bought the site and is planning the development of the district under the title “GoWest” for the 74,000 square meter area on Mecklenburger Strasse. Overall, the conversion and expansion into a modern work campus is expected to cost just under a billion euros. Completion is scheduled for 2025. The first tenants should move in as early as 2021. In March 2019 I was able to visit the site again before the renovation as part of a spring festival. However, the huge production halls were gutted. Most interesting was the graffiti art on the outdoor area, which was created in 2018 as part of a competition.

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