History
200+ years of nitrocellulose production
From the Wolff family business to a modern industrial park, from a gunpowder mill to one of the world’s most advanced and highly automated nitrocellulose production facilities, MSM Walsrode proudly looks back on a fascinating and successful history defined by continuous transformation.
The chemist and pharmacist Dr. Leschen, along with the merchants Ludolph Urlaub and August Wolff, received the concession to produce black powder and to build a powder mill on the Bomlitz River.
Wolff & Co. built a guncotton factory for the production of collodion cotton for industrial use, with production commencing in 1879. Wilhelm Friedrich Wolff, the son of the company’s founder, acted as Managing Partner.
Production of smokeless powder based on nitrocellulose.
Ban on the production of military powder, followed by the destruction and dismantling of the plant; the workforce was reduced from 3,000 to just a few hundred. Establishment of workshops, for example for the repair of locomotives and the production of barrels (e.g. butter churns).
The start of cellophane film production: with Transparit, Wolff laid the foundation for Walsrode’s packaging film business.
Start of artificial casing production.
Significant expansion of gunpowder production in the lead-up to the Second World War. Founding of the subsidiary Eibia GmbH, which at times employed up to 15,000 people in production for the defense sector.
The production facilities were returned to the Wolff company on the condition that only civilian products would be manufactured.
Start of carboxymethylcellulose production at the Fuchsberg plant site.
Start of methylcellulose production (MC1 plant) at the Kiebitzort site for the manufacture of tile adhesives. The state-of-the-art control room allowed the autoclave operator direct visual contact with the reactors. Further expansion of film production as a second key business segment.
A computer-controlled CMC plant was constructed at Röpersberg, where the widely used drilling agent Antisol was also manufactured. The modern CMC facility went into operation in 1984 and, at around DM 50 million, represented the largest single investment in the company’s history at that time.
Strategic realignment of Wolff Walsrode AG and opening of the site as the Walsrode Industrial Park. The business units were spun off into legally independent entities with the aim of focusing on cellulose chemistry and finding new owners for the film business segments. The packaging films division, operating under the name Covexx, was the first to be sold to the Finnish Wipak Group.
EnBW took over the power plant and thus the supply of pipeline-based energy such as steam and electricity to the companies in the industrial park.