Lost Places – VEB Kühlautomat Berlin

To the photos

At the beginning of 1950 the VEB Kühlautomat Berlin (a cooling factory) was founded in Berlin-Johannisthal. First only industrial refrigerator were built and repaired.
Later on all different types of cooling devices were produced (e.g. for grocery stores).
In the mid 1950s the conservation of food concentrated on the one of fish. That’s why the production of refrigerating plants for ships started. Meanwhile 1000 people were employed at the VEB Kühlautomat.

In 1968 the VEB Kühlautomat Berlin (KAB) and the VEB Motorenwerk Johannisthal (engine factory) merged. The result were excellent fabrication conditions for the VEB KAB, that made the fabrication of screw compressors (dt.: Schraubenverdichter) possible.

In the 1970s research and development concerning new technical concepts were undertaken to avoid high licence fees.
That’s why the screw compressor advanced over a couple of years.

In the 1990s, the now called Kühlautomat Berlin GmbH a new sort of screw compressors was developed. It was designed for industrial cooling devices and AC as well as CFC-free (dt.: FCKW-frei) cooling fluids and ammonia.

Unlike other former VEB, the KAB GmbH did well in the first years in the capitalism after the socialism.
Though in 1994 the well-known GEA AG bought KAB GmbH and merged it with its subsidiary company to GRASSKO*KAB.

During that time the GRASSKO*KAB was split into five GmbHs, which started to become autonomous in 1996.
At the end of 1996 the last companies became independent and moved from Berlin-Johannisthal to Berlin-Reinickendorf, the headquater of GEA.

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Lost Places

These posts will show pictures of my Urban Exploration of lost places.
These are buildings that are usually abandoned once were cinemas, cultural centres or industrial complexes.

I used to live in a part of Berlin, where there are and have been many abandoned industrial and cultural buildings.

Many interesting buildings are already wrecked, like the old buildings of the East German TV Broadcast, a swimming pool, a cultural centre or a cinema. They ground was needed for new TV buildings, a university and supermarkets.

1. Tuchfabrik A&A Lehmann / VEB BMHW #Dec ’13	2. Chemical cleaning factory W. Spindler / VEB Rewatex #Dec ’13	3. Abandoned railway area I #Dec ’13
4. Bärenquell Brauerei #Dec ’13	5. VEB Kühlautomat Berlin #Dec ’13	6. Chemiewerk Rüdersdorf #Jan ’14
7. Spreepark Berlin – amusement park #May ’14	8. Russia I – Plane cemetery, telescope, bucket-wheel excavator #Aug ’12	9. VEB Bärensiegel Adlershof #Jun ’14
10. Chernobyl / Prypiat #Jul ’12		12. VEB Fotochemie #Jan ’16