Industrial Brick Production IV – Letting the Clay Wagon down

Brick production was of great importance in the Lippe area in Germany. The Brick Factory Beerman in Sylbach was one of the many production sites in the area. Opened in 1909 the factory did not introduce machines for industrial brick production until 1922. However, after the factory had changed from coal to oil as energy source, oil prices went up within the oil crisis. The factory had to close in 1979.
By 2001 the former factory has been bought, restored and turned into a museum by the Landschaftsverband Westfalen Lippe. Today the historic machines of the brick factory Beermann are running once more. The industrial process of making bricks can be explored during special presentations at the museum. These presentations include all processes within industrial brick production – from clay mining and transport over rolling and pressing to drying of the blanks and firing. This recording was made during such a public presentation of industrial brick production.
When the clay-filled wagons have arrived on the second floor of the brick factory, they have to be tilted to put the clay into the box feeder. Once a clay wagon has been emptied it is sent downwards again with the hoist, which you can hear in his recording. In order to warn the other employees at the bottom of the building, the person who sends the wagon down shouts “Lore kommt!” (“Wagon’s coming!”).

Sound: Lukas Rabl (The University of Applied Sciences Dortmund)
Photo: Kathinka Engels