1. Die Steinmühle
Die Steinmühle wurde 1303 als Getreidemühle von den Zisterziensermönchen aus dem Kloster Zinn erbaut und von diesen betrieben. Bis 1766 wurde die Mühle als Getreidemühle genutzt, bis der damalige Mühlenmeister eine Genehmigung zur Anlegung einer Schneidemühle (Sägewerk) erhielt.
1845 wurde sie wieder abgerissen und danach als Ölmühle wiederaufgebaut. Ende 19. Jahrhunderts wurde auf Dampfkraft erweitert und die Mühle zur Strohpapierstoff-Fabrik umgebaut. Sie wurde auch weiter als Dampfmühle genutzt. 1918 firmiert die Mühle als „G. Thiele Steinmühle“. Inhaber war Emil Gericke, der Schwiegersohn von G.Thiele. 1934 wurde die Dampfmaschine durch einen Motor ersetzt und die Mühle vergrößert.
VEB vehicle plant Treuenbrietzen
Contents:
1. Founding period - 1906 to 1959
2. Relocation and expansion -1959 to 1989
3. The decline - 1990 to the present day
1. The founding period from 1906 to 1959
The company was first mentioned when the master blacksmith Ludwig Baatz moved his company from Bäckerstraße to Neue-Markt-Straße 3 in 1906. He expanded the company into a cartwright shop. From the end of the 1940s, the workshop developed into a manufacturer of tractor and truck trailers under the company name "Baatz und Gehler KG". Otto Gehler was the son-in-law of master blacksmith Baatz and was meanwhile the company owner. In 1958 it took on a compulsory state participation of 60% and initially traded as "Fahrzeugwerk Gehler KG". Otto Gehler was also operations director. He employed 48 people. In 1958 398 vehicle trailers of various types were produced. After the state participation began, the city approved him to purchase a plot of land in Großstr. 11 to be able to build a paint shop for the vehicle trailers.
2. Relocation and expansion - 1959 to 1989
Since 1954, Mr. Gehler tried to buy a piece of land at the train station in order to expand his factory. But that failed again and again due to the high purchase price of the farmers. In 1959 the time had finally come, the required land could be acquired. First, a roofed material store and the cutting (approx. 1500 sqm), a woodworking hall (approx. 600 sqm), a nitro paint spraying system (600 sqm) and a transformer station were built. The pressure from the authorities to expand the state's share increased. Otto Gehler and his family fled to the West in 1960. Sales rose from 500,000 GDR marks in 1957 to 7,000,000 marks in 1961. 140 people were employed. In 1968 there is a specialization in the trailers TZK 3 and HK8. Of the 1250 trailers produced, 90 were exported. The relocation of production to the new site in Belziger Strasse on the outskirts of the city made it possible to set up a production line to increase output.
In 1972, after the private shares had been held in trust since 1960, the company was forced to become a state-owned company. The new location has been steadily expanded. The vehicle factory became a branch of the IFA Combine "Special bodies and trailers Werdau". In the 1970s, there was a further specialization in the production of semi-trailer trailers for the W50 from Ludwigsfelde.
3. The decline - 1990 to the present day
In 1991 and 1992 the Bundeswehr was the largest buyer of the truck trailers produced. After the fall of the Wall, several attempts to privatize the Treuhandanstalt failed. The last remaining 94 employees occupied the site in 1994 in order to protect the business assets of the owner Horz, a showman, from North Rhine-Westphalia, from being transported away. It didn't help, the company filed for bankruptcy. The entrepreneur moved to Spain with the money he had diverted. On his return he was sentenced to several years imprisonment for bankruptcy fraud. Another shady owner illegally disposed of 3,500 tons of garbage in the halls in the noughties and disappeared. Today the site belongs to an owner from southern Germany. It is not used and continues to expire. At the end of the 2010s, part of it was temporarily rented out as winter quarters by a questionable circus. There are plans for an energy and business park in 2021. At the end of 2021, Immoscout 24 has a sales offer for € 880,000.
