What remains of a Niesky wagon builder's business

From Steffen Gerhardt

Werner Weinhold is saddened to see that not only are there no more freight wagons rolling out of the large halls in Niesky, but also that the factory site is lying there like a doomed building and nobody is looking after it.

Petershainer has been loyal to the company for 42 years. He worked for many years in leading positions in production preparation, managed up to thirty colleagues and in December he helped turn out the lights in the traditional company. The 61-year-old has been through three insolvencies: 2007/08, 2017 and 2023, always with the hope that things would somehow continue. And it did, until the Slovakians bought the plant.

"From 2020, we increasingly became an extended workbench for Tatravagonka. It was already becoming apparent that it was going to be a death in installments," says Weinhold, who has been Head of Project Management and Industrial Engineering since 2017. He remained in a management position until the end. The "wind-up team" of 20 people, which spent four months getting the company ready for handover, also worked under his leadership.

To this day, nothing has changed in his opinion that the Niesky-based company could have been saved as the last freight wagon manufacturer in Germany. "I also consider wagon construction to be a systemically relevant company, also with regard to the transport transition. Federal and state politicians, as well as the district, could and should have shown more commitment here. Other opportunities that could have existed were not seized."

Entering into sales negotiations

And now the mechanical engineering graduate is also calling on politicians to take action. "In order to breathe life back into this property, it is necessary to try hard to find out from the current owner, Tatravagonka Germany GmbH, whether it wants to continue using the plant or whether it is prepared to sell the property on fair terms." It is clear to him that wagons will no longer be put on the rails in Niesky. The owner would know how to prevent this if new competition were to establish itself.

Werner Weinhold finds it very regrettable that the city of Niesky has so quickly abandoned its plans, which it had expressed at the beginning of the year, to take care of the property or to try to reestablish business and industry there. "Does the town of Niesky really want to be responsible for having an industrial wasteland in its beautiful town and sooner or later abandoning this area to decay, destruction and vandalism?" he asks. This is also the fear of the entrepreneurs who have set up their companies around the wagon building site.

Joining forces and looking for investors

Werner Weinhold, who is originally from Niesky, is in favor of the town of Niesky joining forces with the district administration, the Niederschlesische Oberlausitz development company, the Lower Silesia Business Association, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the state of Saxony. All with the aim of finding investors for this site. "It should also be considered whether financial resources from the structural change in Lusatia can be used. After all, this is about creating new jobs."

It is also necessary to weigh up whether it is absolutely necessary to locate industry on a greenfield site, i.e. in the northern industrial estate, or whether the wagon construction site should be used instead. With the wagon construction site, Niesky has the opportunity to acquire a fully developed industrial area, including buildings and functional industrial halls, infrastructure, its own water supply and wastewater disposal system and a rail connection. Having your own rail siding is certainly not a disadvantage in today's world. "At the beginning of the 1990s, there was a comprehensive investigation of contaminated sites and appropriate remediation measures had already been taken," adds Weinhold. He should know, as he has also been responsible for managing the property since 2005.

Factory archive is saved

As a wagon builder, it was important to him right up to the end that the archive of the traditional company was not sold off. "These are many irretrievable things that will also show future generations what industry Niesky once had, what people created." The Niesky Museum has taken custody of everything that happened before 1945. The archive treasure after 1945 is in the Dresden State Archives. The town has acquired a number of wagon models that are intended for an exhibition.

Werner Weinhold is aware that his proposed path will require a great deal of courage, a willingness to take risks, confidence and a strong will from the town and its councillors. A ZDF documentary "Wiesenburg - How a village is fighting back against the crisis" shows how this can be achieved together. It can still be viewed in the ZDF media library.

Should Niesky remain a dormitory and residential town, or do they want a town with a strong economy in order to finally get out of the tight budget situation, he asks the people of Niesky.