Non-profit association for researching and presenting the chemical and plastics history of Erkner, the cradle of the plastics age
ChemieFreunde Erkner e.V.
Erkner · Erkner (visitor address Berliner Str. 9) · Erkner (exhibition at the Heimatmuseum)New on Amplifa
About the association
ChemieFreunde Erkner e.V. is a non-profit association dedicated to researching and presenting the chemical history of the Berlin-Brandenburg region – with a particular focus on Erkner as the cradle of the plastics age. The association was founded on 16 December 2003 at the historic site of the Bakelite works on Flakenstraße under the name Freundeskreis Chemie-Museum Erkner e.V.; since the summer of 2012 it has borne its current name. The association collects and presents Bakelite objects, shows exhibitions on the history of the Erkner chemical site and offers popular-science lectures, factory tours and an Experimentarium with “hands-on chemistry” for children and young people. Since 2006, Baekeland Day has been held annually. Historically, Erkner is closely linked to the chemical industry: Julius Rütgers built an impregnation plant here in 1859 and Germany's first tar distillery in 1860; in 1909/10 the world's first industrial plastics production with Bakelite began at the Rütgers works. The association's office is located at Dr.-Hans-Lebach-Str. 6 in Erkner; the visitor address is Berliner Str. 9.
- Site
- Erkner
- Processes
- Exhibitions on chemical history, popular-science lectures, Experimentarium / 'hands-on chemistry' for children and young people, Interviews with contemporary witnesses and documentation, Collection and presentation of Bakelite objects, Baekeland Day (annually in February), Factory tours, Publications
- Materials
- Bakelite
- Founded
- 2003
- Industries
- Education / associations, Chemical history / museum sector
- 01
Collecting and preserving Bakelite objects and chemical-historical artefacts
- 02
Documentation and interviews with contemporary witnesses
- 03
Exhibition and presentation
- 04
Lectures, Experimentarium and factory tours
- 05
Publications
Bakelite and historical materials
Bakelite
Historical thermoset whose worldwide first industrial production began in Erkner in 1909/10; focus of the collection and exhibition activities.
Sites
Erkner office
DERegistered seat / association office
Visitor address Erkner
DEVisitor address in the Dynea building, visiting hours Wednesdays 13–15
Exhibition Heimatmuseum Erkner
DEExhibition on the history of the chemical site, museum courtyard at Sonnenluch
Inside the production
Industries
Additional services
History – Erkner chemical site
- 1859
Julius Rütgers establishes an impregnation plant for railway sleepers in Erkner
- 1860
Foundation of Germany's first tar distillery by Rütgers in Erkner
- 1891
Discovery of a synthetic resin by Gustav Kraemer and Adolf Spilker in the Rütgers research laboratory
- 1909
Test production of the synthetic resin Bakelite at the Rütgers works in Erkner
- 1910
Foundation of Bakelite Gesellschaft m.b.H. Berlin-Erkner – the world's first site of industrial plastics production
- 1914
Construction start of Werk I of Bakelite GmbH on Flakenstraße
- 2003
Foundation of the Freundeskreis Chemie-Museum Erkner e.V. on 16 December
- 2006
Start of the tradition of the annual Baekeland Day
- 2012
Renaming to ChemieFreunde Erkner e.V.; re-registration of the statutes of 15.06.2012