Company history About the exact founding year of the "Solinger Verzinkerei und Zuckerformenfabrik Ewald vom Hofe Nachf. there are no records. The later owner Hermann Barche, however, dated the foundation of the company by Gebr. Hartkopf to the year 1841 as a result of his research. In 1866 it was taken over by the iron and metal wholesaler Peter Holzrichter from Barmen. His son-in-law, the businessman Ewald vom Hofe from Lüdenscheid, managed the Solingen business until 1873 when he took it over completely and ran it under his own name. The sugar loaf mould industry was established in Solingen in the 1840s and 50s as an alternative to the crisis-ridden cutlery industry. The first Solingen commercial register, the "Verzeichnis der im Handelsgerichtsbezirk Elberfeld bestehenden Handelsfirmen" of 1864 (STAS Library IV K 4, 1864), lists three sugar loaf form factories for Solingen. According to the annual reports of the Chamber of Commerce (STAS Library GA 583), this branch of production experienced a good development until the 1870s. Production was mainly for the Rhenish sugar industry, but also for export to almost all European countries, mainly Austria and Russia. But when in the late 1870s the main export countries drastically increased customs duties and lump sugar was introduced in Germany, the production of sugar loaf forms became anachronistic. The annual report of the Chamber of Commerce of 1880 (ibid. p. 21) predicted that most of the 200 employees would have to find a new job. The reports from the following years clearly document this decline. As early as 1883, a quarter of the workers formerly employed (ibid. p. 19) were sufficient to cover the demand for sugar loaf forms. One possible way out of the crisis was taken by a Solingen entrepreneur who relocated production to Russia (ibid.), another alternative was to convert production to ice cells, which had been the company's main product from the farm since the late 1980s. The wage books, which have been available since 1892, show the increasing demand for personnel. While just under 20 workers were employed in 1892, the number rose to just under 30 by 1896. Obviously, however, the production of ice cells was a seasonal business, so that the permanent core of the workforce was supplemented by day labourers when needed. In the week from 30.11.-7.12.1895, for example, 68 workers were on the payroll (cf. No. 265 ff.). In 1899 the Solingen businessman Hermann Rauh, who was also a partner in the Carl Rauh company, bought the Höffgen-based company, including the residential buildings at Kaiserstrasse 253/255 and almost 11,000 square metres of land between Kaiserstrasse and Kreuzstrasse, and continued to run it under the name "Solingen galvanizing plant and sugar mould factory Ewald vom Hofe Nachf. The change of ownership was also accompanied by a relocation of the company, as Hermann Rauh planned to exploit the property by creating the new Kurfürstenstrasse (cf. STAS, Nachlaß Barche, NA 5). In 1904/1905 the company buildings were moved to Eintrachtstraße. An expansion of the company does not seem to have been connected with this, because the number of workers remained about the same. But the strong seasonal fluctuations in the size of the workforce appear to have diminished. Until the First World War, an average of 25-30 workers were employed. The focus of production was on ice cells, which were also sold throughout Europe, but also other sheet metal products such as buckets, barrels, etc. In addition there were sheet metal and galvanizing works, mainly for other Solingen companies. The First World War represented a breakthrough in the obviously good economic development. Despite partial conversion to indirect and direct war production, the balance sheets for the war years are partly in the red (No. 435) and the workforce declined to about 10-12 men, by the end of 1917 even to 6 men. Also the early years of the republic were economically not very pleasant for the company. In August 1923 the company had to close and was only reopened on 26 February 1924 with 6 employees, when the phase of relative stability of the first German republic also seemed to allow the company Ew. vom Hofe Nachf. a small upswing, until in the world economic crisis again a slump occurred. The balance sheets for the years 1931-1934 show losses (cf. No. 478f.). The war years were marked by rationing of raw materials and a shortage of skilled workers. During the bombing raids on Solingen in November 1944, the company on Eintrachtstraße was also hit. The remaining 5 employees, later only 3, were exclusively occupied with clean-up work until June 1945. The company remained small, the number of employees at the beginning of the century was far from reached. Nevertheless, the start to the "economic miracle" seemed to be off to a good start. For 1951, 12 workers and 2 salaried employees are mentioned (cf. No. 123), but they alone generated an export turnover of more than DM 40,000. The sources for the time after 1945 are rather poor, so that little can be said about the further course of the company. It can only be stated that the company was again in the red at the beginning of the 1960s (see No 127 et seq.). The focus of the portfolio is on the period following the takeover of the company by Hermann Rauh (1899). The following should be emphasized in particular: 1. the wage book series, which is completely preserved from 1892-1953 and contains information on the names of employees, type of employment, wages, (piecework, hourly and daily wages) and deductions (taxes, social insurance) (No. 265-274 and No. 265-274). 50-66); 2. the balance books, which are available from 1912-1935 and then again from 1955-1964 (the latter incompletely filled in) and allow conclusions to be drawn about the economic development of the company (No. 435,478,479,348-350, 127-131); 3. the documentation of customer and supplier traffic. Thus the complete copy book series (correspondence copies) from 1899-1921 (No. 170-193) is available, for the following years numerous individual files. Also complete are the series of invoice books for the period 1905-1955 (no. 90-97) and the current account books for 1913-1940 (special account for each customer and supplier) (no. 476/477); 4. the calculation books, which once include the working calculation books from 1903-1926 (no. 275-280), for later times individual calculations (in no. 373-375) and the total calculation books from 1899-1926 (no. 338, 360, 281-288, 344, 345, 289 and 361) and allow statements about the profit margin. Even after the death of Hermann Rauh on 14.11.1911, the company remained in family ownership. His wife Clara Rauh, née Egen, was heir to the company. She was supported by her son-in-law Karl Barche. The stock was recorded in 1985 by Ralf Rogge.
