I found this façade decoration on a presumably former cartel building in Poland. Since the numbering on the street may have shifted, it is not clear which previous address corresponds to this house. To make it difficult: Several cartels had their seats in that street. There had been a syndicate for lime and another for cement. Does anyone have an idea of the profession in which this man worked? And what sense is the lying man at the top? What about the installations pictured between the worker's legs and above the resting man?
My interpretation is as follows:
The semi-reliefs you see on a building portal are most likely the key symbols of the cement industry.
The quarry worker with pick and shovel stands proudly over the industrial plant.
The lying worker of the cement plant carries on his shoulder the symbols of a rotary kiln and the lime/marl kilns. At his feet blazes the "eternal flame" of the cement industry.
Best regards,
Guenter Grundmann
Dear Guenter,
thank you very much for this profound answer. (I had to involve Wikipedia to understand the material background). – May I ask further questions to your explanations? - Because lime and cement are industries with some relationships and similar processing, I also would like to do a differential diagnosis for our case. This seems necessary because of the special properties of the building. As you see on the first picture, it has two main doors. May be the left one was for the lime syndicate and the right for cement within a semi-detached house. So it could have been one relief for one cartel or industry each. - And now the questions:
1. “The lying worker … carries on his shoulder the symbols of a rotary kiln”. Is this the horizontal bar or beam in the picture separating the four lime kilns beneath and the five lime ovens above? Isn’t something lying on the bar and flowing into the four lower lime ovens?
2. “… the ‘eternal flame’ of the cement industry”. Was this a common saying in this trade? Current since what time? Was this saying specific for cement? Couldn’t it also correspond to other mineral production such as lime?
3. “The quarry worker with pick and shovel stands proudly over the industrial plant.” – Absolutely … and what industries are so near to mining that they employ quarry workers (if this is the message of the relief)? – The lime industry? – The cement industry?
4. The industrial plant between the legs of the quarry worker has two chimneys. The left one has a kind of balcony around its middle part. Do you know the sense of it?
5. The plant has three kind of chutes below its roof. Any idea about their function?
I apologize for these hard queries. Nevertheless it seems necessary to use and scrutinize all available information.
Best regards
Holm
Dear Holm,
Answer to your question 1. => The four blocks under the kiln tube are the concrete supports on which the ball bearings rest. The five chimneys (in the background) are part of the kilns.
Answer to your question 2. => Unfortunately I do not have a precise answer here.
Answer to your question 3. => Sorry, but the lime/marl/cement industry forms a very important part of the mining industry. Every lime quarry, every marl quarry, etc. represents pure mining, respectively open pit mining!!
Answer to your question 4. => These bulges on the chimneys are used for cooling and cleaning the exhaust gases.
Answer to your question 5. => It probably shows the cement loading station.
Once again: that is my interpretation to the best of my knowledge.
Best regards,
Guenter
Dear Holm,
I have a very large collection of vintage mining picture postcards from all over the world. I found a real photo postcard from the "Schlesische Portland-Zement-Industrie A.-A., Oppeln" showing the "Drehofen mit Schlammtrockner in Groschowitz" (see attached). You clearly see the concrete support system of the "Drehofen" in the foreground at left. In the background (upper left) you clearly see the bulge on the chimney (you and I mentioned). I hope this helps you further.
Best regards,
Guenter
Thank you much, Guenter. You convinced me about your diagnosis ....
I needed all this information to furtheron enlarge the article "Kartellsitz" in Wikipedia. If you might have knowledge and even fotos of historical common sales agencies (= syndicate cartels), this would find my greatest interest ...
By the way, the three fotos of mine are also from Oppeln, town center, mid-August 2019. Obviously it is the former „Central-Verkaufsstelle der Schlesischen Portland-Cementfabriken“.
Best regards
Holm
Congratulations, Holm.
It is quite possible that I have more photo documents from historical common sales agencies in my collection.
Please send me a list of all those "Kartellsitze" from which you are looking for photos. Maybe I'll find some in my collection.
I have a few more photos of the Oppeln cement factory. Are you interested in that?
Best regards,
Guenter
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