A Chemistry Museum at Erkner

A Chemistry Museum This pioneering discovery of the reaction lives, the Friends of the Erkner Chemistry between phenol with formaldehyde to pro- Museum Freundeskreis Chemie-Museum at Erkner duce an artifi cial resin by a technically con- Erkner e.V. was founded on 16 December 2003, trollable reaction is an important milestone in the Year of Chemistry. The Friends intend Although not many people are aware of it, in the history of chemistry. In their pure form to draw attention to these events in order to Erkner played a unique role in the history of phenolic resins are used as raw materials present at Erkner, in cooperation with other industrial chemistry … for lacquers („Novolak“).More widely, phenol- museums (including the Deutsches Tech- formaldehyde resins are processed together nik-Museum in Berlin and the Deutsches In 1860 Julius Rüttgers founded his fi rst with fi lling materials such as powdered stone, Museum in Munich), the story of the deve- industrial tar distillery at Erkner where coal wood chips or fi bers to produce valuable and lopment of materials technology in the local tar was processed to produce impregnating robust materials for many technological appli- region and, thereafter, of general develop- oil for railway ties and benzene derivatives for cations. In solution they are used for produ- ments in other fi elds of chemistry. As a fi rst, synthetic dyes („coal tar colors“). Previously cing size and impregnating resins for wood positive step the Friends will support the coal tar was a waste product of the Berlin materials and we also fi nd manifold forms of Erkner Museum of Local History with their Illuminating Gas Company. In 1889 two inte- it in our household. Thus, e.g. the well known presentation of Erkner as an industrial site resting compounds, indene and cumarone, veneered composite bo ard used for furniture and will try to promote interest in chemistry were isolated from coal tar in the scientifi c making, and the very durable plastic lami- with public talks and experimental demon- laboratory of this company and transformed nated coatings for wood are manufactured strations. to low melting point artifi cial resins (thermo- on a phenoplastic base (Formica, Resopal, plastics). Sprelacard). The bodywork of the Trabi was The ultimate aim of the Friends is to found a These coumarone-indene resins were the composed of phenolic resin from Erkner rein- Chemistry Museum at Erkner on an historic very fi rst fully synthetic resins or plastics forced with a cotton fi bre matrix (!). site, particularly since chemistry is nowhere manufactured industrially, and nowadays presented in a vivid and forward looking they continue to play an important role as Actually, when reaching Erkner the visitor fashion throughout the region of Berlin- special polymers for printing ink, lacquers, ought to be greeted by a large sign: Brandenburg. adhesives and rubber articles. „Welcome to Erkner, the town where the To initiate appropriate discussions the inten- In 1909 the Rütgerswerke, in collaboration plastics age began“! tion is to offer talks on the history of che- with Leo Hendrik Baekeland and utilising mistry and other talks intelligible to a wider his patents, produced Bakelite®, the fi rst For a long time Bakelite was the epitome of public (including e.g. chemistry in our daily representative of the hard, thermosetting plastics, before the wide range of plastics lives) within a Chemistry Forum and to plastics, from coal tar phenol and formal- available to us nowadays had been develo- perform interesting chemical experiments in dehyde. In partnership with Baekeland the ped („Kunststoffe“ - the materials testifying an „Experimentarium“, „Chemistry made Rütgerswerke founded the Bakelite GmbH, to the art of the chemists). To remind the easy and popular“ so to speak. which, under the name of Dynea, has conti- public of these developments and particularly nued to produce phenolic resins at its origi- to make the public aware of the importance of In addition to giving information about the nal historic site until the present day. chemistry, which so strongly affects our daily past and the present it is also intended to Freundeskreis present a forward look showing how deve- Chemie - Museum lopments in scientifi c research will contribute to shaping our daily lives in the future. Erkner e. V. The Friends wish to address open-minded citizens of the region and in particular young people (school pupils, university students). We intend to make the public aware of the positive aspects of chemistry without neg- lecting the hazards which may arise as a consequence of incorrect use or misuse of products of the chemical industry. The Fri- ends are working in a purposeful manner to Toluene-Tower Erkner (1924 - 1995) create an attractive place where people can come in contact with chemistry as a source of life. We will also wish, occasionally, to com- Society address: Freundeskreis memorate those personalities in the history Chemie-Museum Erkner e. V. of chemistry, who, often with great sacrifi - Berliner Str. 9, D-15537 Erkner Julius Rütgers ces, contributed to today‘s blossoming of this Fon: 03362-72204 (1833 - 1903) branch of industry. e-mail: [email protected] The Freundeskreis Chemie-Museum Account number of the organisation: Erkner e. V., a non-profi t organisation, is very Sparkasse Oder-Spree keen to attract new members. If you, your Konto-Nr. 2000 251 660 family or your friends wish to particpate in BLZ 170 550 50 shaping this project by personal collablora- Chairman: tion, donations or by contributing exhibition Prof. Dr. Gerhard Koßmehl objects we heartily welcome you to do so at Grabenstr. 38 F, D-12209 Berlin Erkner, the town between forests and lakes - Fon/Fax: 030-7728593 directly before the gates of Berlin! e-mail: [email protected] Contact at Erkner: Dr. Fritz Kretschmer Herweghstr.26-27, D-15537 Erkner Fon: 03362-23471 e-mail: Leo Hendrik Baekeland [email protected] (1863 - 1944).

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