In the year 1867 Philipp Swiderski bought a small workshop in Leipzig. There he produced several leather processing machines as well as book printing presses. 1875 he expanded his production spectrum to steam engines and loco mobiles. With all the new products the old factory building was over its capacity, so it was decided to build a new factory in Leipzig-Plagwitz which is the one we visited. The buildings were finished in 1888 and are constructed in the neo-Gothic style.
The factory was expanded by a foundry in 1892 and the production of petroleum engines started in the same year. The whole company was converted into a joint-stock company while Swiderski was the main shareholder in 1894. The name was changed to “Leipziger Dampfmaschinen- & Motorenfabrik vormals Ph. Swiderski” in 1897 and yet again in 1900 to “Maschinenbau-Aktiengesellschaft vorm. Ph. Swiderski”. The company was bought by the “Industriewerke GmbH” in 1916 and focused the production on printing presses. The factory changed owners again in 1921 to the company “Schröder, Spiess & Co.” and was renamed in “Georg Spiess Maschinenfabrik”. This company was nationalized in 1953 due to the new GDR politics. Afterwards it had the name “VEB Bogenanlegerwerk” and belonged to the VEB Druckmaschinen Leipzig from 1960 onwards.
As soon as the GDR came to an end, so did the factory. It was administrated by the Treuhand and closed down completely. Nowadays, it is owned by the “Rübesam Verwaltungs-GmbH” which lets it decay further and further.
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