Weimar Republic .281919.E2.80.9333.29 Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken

factory gate , former administrative building of glanzstoff courtaulds in niehl, cologne

the european rayon price cartel formed again after 1925. arrangement form of cartel in rayon patents , technology shared between partners. vgf, courtaulds , comptoir shared technical advances until shortly before world war ii (1939–45). vgf initiated lawsuits against ig farben on rayon technology, dropped them in 1924–25 when ig farben agreed join price cartel in germany , reduce production of rayon. in 1925 i. g. farben acquired stake in vgf , bemberg. joint venture i. g. farben lasted until latter closed hölken rayon plant in 1929.

in 1925 courtaulds , vgf founded joint venture named glanzstoff courtaulds build , operate large viscose manufacturing facility in cologne. in april 1928 glanzstoff courtaulds began artificial silk production in north of cologne. in 1927 courtaulds , vgf combined buy controlling interest in italian manufacturer snia viscosa. german director of vgf, karl scherer, replaced company founder riccardo gualino (1879–1964) head of firm , cut output drastically.

in april 1925 fritz blüthgen of vgf, suggested joint venture courtaulds in united states. when courtaulds declined, vgf entered market in competition courtaulds. j. p. bemberg , vgf organized american bemberg corporation in 1925, , began making rayon using cuprammonium process in october 1926 @ newly built facility near elizabethton, tennessee, 9 miles johnson city, tennessee. in fall of 1928 vgf opened viscose factory nearby. operated vgf subsidiary north american rayon. 1929 bemberg , vgf had 5,000 employees in united states. city of elizabethton provided tax concessions , favorable rates large amounts of water used in rayon production. there ongoing labor problems, starting strike in march 1929, plants operated profitably throughout great depression.

american enka rayon plant @ graham, north carolina (1940)

as of 1929 vgf had workforce of 13,400 in germany, , chaired fritz blüthgen. although thriving, vgf in debt. year oscar schlitter (1868–1939) of deutsche bank arranged vgf combine nederlandsche kunstzidje (enka). enka based in arnhem, netherlands. had been founded in 1911. new german-dutch company created, algemene kunstzijde unie (aku), through exchange of shares. enka, vgf , bemberg remained distinct legal entities owned aku holding company. aku supervisory board had 4 members dutch group, 4 german group , 1 neutral member. enka remained technogically behind german facilities, , relatively under-equipped. german plants accounted bulk of aku s production, , made 60% of viscose in germany in 1930s. vgf had 5 members of seven-person management committee.

enka competed courtaulds factory in britain established before merger. after merger aku continued operate in britain despite strong protests courtaulds , lengthy negotiations try resolve issue. aku had subsidiaries in italy, czechoslovakia , austria. after 1929 merger aku opened viscose plant in asheville, north carolina. plant operated american enka company, had been organized in 1928. company became third largest rayon manufacturer in united states after courtaulds , dupont. in 1930 vgf used lawsuits bargaining counter châtillon s.p.a. ensure imports of rayon italy germany controlled. in 1930s vgf in debt enka, situation worsened vgf bonds issued , sold in bought dutch. percentage of german ownership in aku steadily declined.

emil georg von stauss played important role in pre-war nazi period

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