page_title: J. P. Bemberg
section_title: Growth in rayon production (1897–1945)
hierarchical_section_title: J. P. Bemberg / Growth in rayon production (1897–1945)
caption_attribution_description: J.P. Bemberg AG in Wuppertal
context_page_description: J. P. Bemberg was a German rayon manufacturer that produced an unusually fine artificial fiber which became known as Bemberg®. J. P. Bemberg came under the control of Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken and eventually disappeared after a series of mergers and divestitures, but Bemberg™ rayon was still being produced in 2015 by Asahi in Japan,
context_section_description: J. P. Bemberg began to produce artificial textile fiber commercially using the cuprammonium process in 1897.
  The company went public as J. P. Bemberg AG in 1903.
  In 1901 Dr Edmund Thiele developed a stretch-spinning system for J. P. Bemberg, which began to produce fine-filament artificial silk under the Bemberg® trademark in 1908.
  With this process J. P. Bemberg was able to make rayon using the cuprammonium process with filaments of 1–1.5 denier, comparable to Chardonnet silk and physically superior.
  The process did not have the flammability problems of Hilaire de Chardonnet's process, but could not compete with the viscose process except where very fine filament was needed. Costs were higher than with viscose rayon due to the need to use copper salts and cotton for the cellulose.
  Bemberg founded a factory using Thiele's process at Ölde, near Barmen (now part of Wuppertal).
  Around 1911 Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken (VGF) began to invest in J. P. Bemberg, and encouraged Bemberg to focus on producing yarns for which that process was suitable.
  In 1916 VGF and Bemberg agreed to exchange technology, and from that time VGF concentrated on viscose production and left cuprammonium to Bemberg.
  Full-scale production only began after this.
  Bemberg's production of rayon rose from 440 tonnes in 1922 to 3,468 tonnes in 1935.
  VGF steadily increased its holdings in Bemberg and gained full control in 1925.
  In 1925 IG Farben acquired a stake in VGF and Bemberg.
  In 1927 Bemberg had about 4,000 employees.
  The joint venture with IG Farben lasted until the latter closed its Hölken rayon plant in 1929.
  In March 1928 Bemberg agreed to build a rayon factory in Siegburg, and the factory opened in the autumn of 1929.
  However, the global economic crisis forced closure before production had ramped up, and in the end the plant remained unused.
  In 1929 a new German-Dutch company was created, Algemene Kunstzijde Unie (AKU), through an exchange of shares.
  The Dutch firm Nederlandsche Kunstzidje (Enka), VGF and Bemberg remained distinct legal entities owned by AKU as a holding company.
  During World War II Bemberg concentrated on making parachute silk.
  4,400 employees made up to 40 tons of silk per day.
  The first Polish workers came to Wuppertal to work at the Bemberg factory early in 1940.
  70% of the production facilities were destroyed in an air raid on 13 March 1945.
caption: Plaque on the Bemberg factory in Wuppertal. The picture is from 1928
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