Published in March 2026
As so often in its corporate history, GF faced a major challenge in 1920 that needed to be resolved. The waste from the foundries in the Mühlental was steadily accumulating and needed to be disposed of. Since capacity at the existing landfills was slowly being exhausted and transportation costs were high, GF sought a sustainable and economical solution for the future. At its meeting on March 29, 1921, the Board of Directors decided to construct a “Schuttseilbahn” – a material ropeway – from Plant IV in Birch to a landfill site in the area known as Brand near Herblingen. The GF management at the time considered this option the best of a total of eight examined for the following three reasons: 1. It encroached only minimally on third-party land, 2. The land in the Brand area already belonged to GF, and 3. The material ropeway would resolve the waste issue for 50–80 years.
The material ropeway did not last quite that long. It was built in 1921/22 and dismantled in 1958. During its 36 years of operation, it shaped the landscape and left a lasting impression on many people of the time. The structural dimensions of the material ropeway, built by the firm Bleichert & Co. of Leipzig, were impressive. With a length of 2,160 meters, wooden struts (some over) 20 meters high, safety covers over the roads, a technically sophisticated angle station, and an unloading station visible from afar, the material ropeway remained vividly in the memories of residents, workers, and visitors alike. The sounds and constant movements of the carriers, which floated and jolted along for decades, formed the audiovisual backdrop of everyday life around the material ropeway at that time.
The landfill in Brand continued to be used even after the material ropeway was decommissioned. Starting in 1958, foundry waste was transported there by truck. The switch was made for economic reasons. Maintaining the material ropeway was becoming increasingly expensive, and technological advances in the trucking industry made for more cost-effective transportation. For this reason, GF management decided to switch to road transport.
The last mention of the material ropeway in the Corporate Archives’ records appears in GF Mitteilungen, No. 101, June 1959. In it, the author expresses satisfaction that the material ropeway had been dismantled, describing it as an “unsightly structure.” How the material ropeway was perceived by the local population at the time remains unanswered in the sources of the Corporate Archives. What is certain is that it was a defining structure for the surrounding area and further evidence of GF’s ability to implement sustainable solutions with innovative and forward-thinking ideas.
