Eberhard Stauf Tanners and glue boilers

Eberhard Stauf (1790-1868) was the founder of the glue factory. His name still appears in the name of the incorporated company Eberh. Stauf GmbH & Co. KG.

The road from a small glue boiling shop to a modern adhesives factory is due to the constantly changing conditions of this economic region. The industrialisation of the Siegerland region was based on its special natural resources. Thanks to the ore deposits mining developed, as did a flourishing steelmaking and hammering industry. The chronicles of the town of Siegen document that Johann-Jacob Stauf was already pursuing the trade of red tanner. The subsequent generations also worked in this trade. Eberhard Stauf, the founder of the glue factory, was thus also first and foremost a tanner. When the Napoleonic Wars and the continental blockade stopped the import of animal hides from overseas, however, Eberhard Stauf was forced to tap a new source of income. As one of the first Siegerland tanners, he erected a glue factory in 1828 to process the waste from his own tannery. From the production of 100 kg of sole leather, a full 14 kg of meat and fat waste, so-called glue stock, was left over. In addition the Weiss supplied the clean water that was needed. Until the emergence of synthetic adhesives, the Siegerland was one of the most important locations for the German hide glue industry.

Shearing With shearing irons the tanners removed the residual flesh and animal hairs from the hides Washing machine In so-called "Waschholländer" the glue stock was cleaned with fresh water.

In the hide glue factories the glue stock first had to be cleaned and then stored in a milk-of-lime bath in the so-called "lime pits" for up to ten weeks. This loosened up the fibre structure. In the subsequent glue stock wash, the lime residues were throughly rinsed out in special washing machines for about 48 hours using fresh water. Then the actual boiling operation began: the glue stock and water were heated up in large, open boiling vats in order to melt out the glue. Then preservatives were added to the concentrated bath, which was poured into low, rectangular boxes and placed in special cooling rooms to solidify it. After the cooling, the gelatine blocks were removed from the boxes and cut into manageable slabs, which had to be dried in special structures.       Presses In manually operated presses the glue stock was drained of water. The glue boilers This contemporary print highlights the typical operations in a craft shop for glue boiling. Cutting machine The gelatine blocks are cut into slabs on the glue cutting machine.