Villa Zimmermann

By the time the Industrial Revolution was getting under way in Germany, England was already a few steps ahead. That is why consideration was being given here to protect against substandard goods from the continent – with the ‘Made in Germany’ mark of origin. However, companies such as the machine tool factory founded by Johann von Zimmermann impressed with the quality of their products: the judge Joseph Whitworth is said to have remarked “Very good indeed” about Zimmermann’s machines at the 1867 London World Exhibition. And so the warning “Made in Germany” quickly became a seal of quality that is still recognised today.

Once again, it is the story of an immigrant (see Police Headquarters / Janssen Factory) that continues to shape industrial Chemnitz to this day. Born in Pápa, Hungary, in 1820, Johann Zimmermann, a trained metalworker, came to Chemnitz at the age of just 19. Here, like Richard Hartmann, he initially worked for Gottlieb Haubold, who built spinning machines. Zimmermann’s business idea took things a step further: if there was a growing need for spinning machines, it might make sense to build machines that would assist in the production of spinning machines – and so, in 1844, he joined the company ‘Tauscher & Co.’, which manufactured parts for spinning machines. From this, from 1848 onwards – now as sole proprietor – he developed the first machine tool factory in Chemnitz. And not just in Chemnitz, but the first in continental Europe. The city thus became a key player in the Industrial Revolution in Germany. It owed its continued upswing not least to Zimmermann’s business idea.

Having started in Gablenz, Zimmermann’s company grew rapidly, necessitating several relocations: on Rochlitzer Straße, where the municipal swimming pool stands today, the company expanded rapidly from 50 employees in 1852 to 800 workers in 1868. They specialised in the manufacture of lathes, planers, drilling machines, mortising machines and woodworking machinery. At the 1862 Great Exhibition in London, Zimmermann’s company won the Grand Gold Medal – a true mark of quality, achieved in the home of machine tool manufacturing. In 1867, Zimmermann’s company also returned from the Paris World’s Fair with prizes. In 1871, the entrepreneur converted his firm into a public limited company and became managing director of the new ‘Chemnitzer Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik AG’. The company continued to grow. In 1878, Zimmermann withdrew completely from business life and moved to Berlin, where he died in 1901. His body was transferred to Chemnitz and buried in the municipal cemetery on Reichenhainer Straße.

The Villa Zimmermann stands as a testament to Zimmermann’s business success to this day. Johann Zimmermann had it built between 1865 and 1867 by the Hanoverian architect Otto Goetze. It is one of the most magnificent neo-Gothic industrialists’ villas in Saxony – small turrets, a lavishly decorated façade of Elbe sandstone and the shape of the windows are reminiscent of the Gothic style. In the central hall, a staircase leads up to the two main storeys. It is crowned by a leaded-glass dome featuring triangular shapes. Until 1884, the villa belonged to Johann Zimmermann, who had by then been ennobled in Vienna. One of the subsequent owners added an extension and used both the villa and the extension as a hotel – not a bad idea, given its proximity to the railway station. The villa survived the 1945 bombing of Chemnitz largely unscathed, so the Soviet military administration initially moved in here. However, the complex soon became a hotel once more – until 1990. Since then, the magnificent villa has stood empty time and again. Attempts to use it as a restaurant, nightclub or similar ventures were unsuccessful, despite a comprehensive refurbishment in 2007–08.

Zimmermann’s company continued to operate for decades. It was not until the Great Depression in 1929 that it collapsed. The majority shareholder at that time, the industrialist Sonnenberg, merged the machine tool factory with another of his companies, ‘Wotan-Werke AG’. The newly formed company, ‘Wotan- und Zimmermannwerke’, was initially based in Düsseldorf, then from 1938 onwards in Glucha, where the main production facilities were now also located. In 1940, Sonnenberg was expropriated. After the end of the Second World War, large parts of the Glauchau facilities were transported to the Soviet Union as reparations, but machine tool manufacturing continued – both in Glauchau and in West Germany. In 1994, the East and West German operations were reunited to form “Wotan und Zimmermann GmbH”, which now operates under the name “Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Glauchau GmbH”.