Bath House "Percussion"
First it was a magnificent bath house, then an entrepreneur transformed the gleaming building on the Saale river into the Sonor drum factory. Stars still beat the beat on its products today. But the original building has been abandoned and is waiting to be revived.
A large piece of floor is missing right next to the spacious hall on the second floor, which still retains its former splendor. Rusty steel beams hang in the air, provisionally braced with a few meters of fluttering tape. The light shines through the semi-circular windows onto the remains of the wooden wall paneling, which is
scratched but gives an idea of how impressive this house on the banks of the Saale river must have once looked.
The drum factory was originally built in 1824 as a bathing facility. At the time, the aim was to turn the town into a bathing resort. However, the number of guests fell far short of expectations. In 1890, a master brewer built a restaurant and spacious hall on this site and opened it under the name “Etstablishment Bath”.
During the First World War, the site was converted into a military hospital.
In 1920, the ensemble was taken over by the Sonor company. From then on, drums, cymbals, xylophones and triangles were manufactured here. Production continued during the Second World War.
After the inner-German border was sealed off a few years after the war, an order was issued to expropriate the Sonor company and arrest the owner. Sonor was nationalized by the GDR, and from then on TROWA (Trommelwaren, Drum Wares) instruments were produced on the Sonor production facilities.
The owner narrowly escaped arrest: he managed to flee the GDR in a spectacular way. Production ceased in 1981 and the company was closed.
Visited: January 1, 2021
Location: Undisclosed, Germany
Status: Renovation
