die US presidential elections currently dominating the headlines. The result in Hesse is also eagerly awaited. The federal state and the United States have a lot in common. According to the State Statistical Office, a total of 14,860 US citizens lived in Hesse in 2023. The US is one of the best places in the world to export goods from Hesse. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Wiesbaden, Hesse exported goods worth 80.2 billion euros and imported goods worth 112.2 billion euros in 2023.
A piece of Hesse can also be found in two of New York’s most iconic buildings. The entrance hall of the famous Empire State building was designed with Lahn marble from Villmar (Limburg-Weilburg region). In the concrete foundation of the Statue of Liberty forward Freedom Island stuck in New York harbor cement from the Mainz-Amöneburg area of Wiesbaden.
“Approximately 9,000 square meters of Lahn marble from the Villmar region were installed on the ground floor of the Empire State Building,” reports Rudolf Conrads of the Lahn Marble Museum Foundation. In 1929/30 the “G. Joerissen GmbH” from Weilburg delivered the Lahn marble of the “Estrellante” and “Famosa Rose” varieties to New York. The raw material was sent to the USA in thick blocks. “The actual stone carving work was done on site .”
The tallest building in the world until 1972
Limestone from France and Belgium was also used in the foyer of the Empire State Building. “But Lahn marble dominates,” says Conrads. First, French material was supposed to be submitted. “But you couldn’t keep up with production there like on the Lahn. ” According to reports, only the best materials from around the world were purchased to build the skyscraper. “In this regard, we feel very honored. ” Then US President Herbert Hoover also attended the opening ceremony in 1931.
In the Lahn Marble Museum, the story of the tallest building in the world until 1972 and its connection to Central Hesse is a highlight, reports Conrads. “The large banner in the entrance hall of the Empire State Building, which you can have your photo taken in front of, is also very popular with visitors.”
Lahn marble has been mined for 400 years. “It was very beautiful and colorful and it corresponded to the taste of the time for a long time,” says Conrads. “Until tastes changed in the 1970s/1980s.” In addition, relatively cheaper products from India and China have come to the market. “And then Lahn marble finally died out due to changing tastes and international competition.”
The Lahntal piece resides in the Empire State Building. And not just there. According to Conrads, the Lahn marble, which was created about 380 million years ago, has traveled around the world. “It can be found, among other places, in the Havana Capitol in Cuba, in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and in the Tagore palace in the Maharaja’s palace in India.” It was also installed in several cathedrals such as Mainz, Cologne, Berlin, Trier and Würzburg and in castles in Wiesbaden and Weilburg.
The famous statue of liberty in New York Harbor stands on cement from Mainz-Amöneburg. The company delivered 8,000 wooden barrels full of the building material Dyckerhoff 1884 for the base of the “Lady Liberty” which contains more than 10,000 cubic meters of concrete. According to company spokeswoman Isabel Derstroff, it was pure Portland cement. “At the time, this was the only one with enough water strength. ” The amount of concrete produced was the largest in the world to date.
“Back then, the cement was transported by boat. The ships came to Europe with goods and brought other goods back with them, so that only loaded ships were always moving,” Derstroff reports. “The aim was to avoid transport with empty containers. “
Construction material was better than the competitors
American General Charles Pomeroy Stone, who Construction work Derstroff explains, he broke new ground when he had a 23,500 ton monolithic concrete base for the substructure in 1884. “He used the best cement he could find and it was better than England championship.” The one with cement from Dyckerhoff The material extracted was so strong that only 80 years later it was possible to break a tunnel to the base of the statue with great difficulty and use the heaviest equipment in the rock at the base.
According to Derstroff, other important buildings around the world also rely on Dyckerhoff cement, such as the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, the Estadio Centenario in Uruguay, the Frauenkirche in Dresden or the Kranhäuser in Cologne.
2024-11-05 09:35:00
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