Lost Places – Chemical Cleaning W. Spindler / VEB Rewatex

To the photos

As my second lost place I chose the laundry and dye factory of Wilhelm Spindler, which I used to pass by often with my grand-parents.

Wilhelm Spindler founded the company W. Spindler in 1832, which was soon be led by his son Carl. The family was patron of this part of Berlin, called Spindlersfeld.
However in 1873 it had been headquartered to its current place. At that time it was the biggest chemical cleaning factory in Germany.

The company financed the S-Bahn railway from Berlin-Schöneweide via Oberspree to the final destination Spindlersfeld. This part was opened in 1892.

In 1922 the company was transformed into an incorporate corporation and taken over by Schering AG.

After WWII Schering was dispossessed and the VEB Blütenweiß (VEB blossom white). In 1961 after some merges it was named VEB Rewatex (from the German reinigt und wäscht Textilien – cleans and washes textiles).

Since 1989 apart from “normal” employees, 600 female prisoners and foreign employees from Vietnam worked in the VEB.

After the reunion Rewatex was converted into an incorporate company REWATEX AG and was taken over by Larosé-Hygiene-Service-GmbH in 1992.

Only until the mid 1990s there were operations on the area Spindlersfeld.

The windows were partially sealed with plastic. Due to the wind it always made strange sounds, letting me believe there are people every. At first it was a bit scary and weird.