Next Geretsrieder issue is ready

Created: 02/12/2022, 20:00

By: Doris Schmid

Firefighters: On January 15, 1942, the DAG fire brigade positioned themselves in front of a fire engine.

Today's town hall can be seen in the background.

© City Archives

Plant security, plant air protection and plant fire protection in the two armament plants DAG and DSC in Geretsried is the topic of the new Geretsrieder issue.

Geretsried - It is the joint work of three authors, two of whom are no longer alive: the new Geretsrieder issue from the series about the ammunition factories.

Friedrich Schumacher finished what Arthur Zimprich had started and Martin Walter continued.

It is about factory security, factory air protection and factory fire protection in the two armaments factories DAG and DSC in Geretsried.

Final work out of obligation

The factory security before a work assignment.

The picture was taken on April 1, 1941 in front of the crew barracks.

© City Archives

In 2015, the Historical Geretsried Working Group (AHG) decided to create a documentation of the two ammunition factories in Wolfratshausen Frost (we reported).

Zimprich agreed to take on the topic of "plant security, fire brigade and air raid protection".

"He went to work with enthusiasm and interviewed contemporary witnesses on this subject," writes Schumacher in the foreword.

The result was 16 pages of manuscript.

Unfortunately, the man from Königsdorf was unable to continue his work due to illness.

Therefore, in 2018 he made all his documents available to the working group for further processing.

Arthur Zimprich (†) initiated the magazine.

© Archive

Despite ailing health, AHG member Walter took over the project.

He researched the various accidents that occurred in the factories and the air raid on DAG on April 9, 1945. He was also unable to complete the work he had taken on due to a serious illness.

"With certain death in sight, he still had the strength to return his great treasure of analogue documents and digital concepts to the AHG," Schumacher looks back.

The 81-year-old took over the documents to complete the work of his fellow campaigners.

It was both an obligation and an honor for him.

He placed the results of his co-authors on a secure foundation, as he puts it, by prefixing each chapter with the content of ordinances, decrees and legal provisions from the Nazi era.

New Geretsrieder booklet from the series about the ammunition factories

Martin Walter (†) took over the project.

© Archive

During the National Socialist period, factory security, factory air protection and factory fire protection had a common overarching task: the protection of people and property in war-heavy, "protected" plants.

Because each munitions factory had its own factory security, fire department and air raid protection with separate buildings and its own staff, Schumacher presents these areas separately in the documentation.

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Bandaged heads: the photo shows injured employees of the ammunition factories in the infirmary.

The photo was taken on June 15, 1942. © Stadtarchiv

The DSC plant in the Wolfratshauser Forest was planned and built by the headquarters of the "Westfälisch-Anhaltische Sprengstoff-Actien-Gesellschaft" (WASAG) in Berlin.

A factory was also built in what is now Waldkraiburg – with identical buildings.

According to Schumacher, there are plans in Waldkraiburg with the exact building numbers of the "Tal II" construction site in the Wolfratshauser forest, which the AHG could fall back on.

A stroke of luck.

Friedrich Schumacher (81) completed it.

© Hans Lippert

Contemporary witness describes memories of the construction of the DAG

The AHG is grateful for the descriptions and photos by Johann Herbrik.

As a young man, he witnessed the development of DAG.

"While working in a relative's company, he equipped numerous buildings with lightning protection systems," reports Schumacher.

"During this time, he came across photo documents that he left in the Geretsried town archive in the 1980s." The AHG was able to substantiate statements about factory security and factory fire protection with historical photos.

Herbrik, a founding member of the volunteer fire brigade in Geretsried, died in 2016. Schumacher regrets that he was no longer able to ask Herbrik specific questions.

The issue is dedicated to the AHG Arthur Zimprich - co-founder of the working group and initiator of numerous projects.

From 1948 to 1955 he lived with his family in the former gatehouse of the DSC as a displaced person.

The retired history teacher passed away last year at the age of 78.

The booklet is numbered 7.7.

Two more from the "Ammunition Factories" series are still being planned.

info

The new booklet from the series "Two ammunition factories in the Wolfratshauser Forst" will be sold by the working group at the Christmas market this weekend at a price of 8.50 euros.

A public screening is scheduled for Friday, December 16th.

Read the latest news from Geretsried here.

By the way: everything from the region is also available in our regular Wolfratshausen-Geretsried newsletter.