07.02.2024

Donation for Wahlstedt history trail

The properties of the former Wahlstedt naval artillery barracks became the nucleus of industry in Wahlstedt after the Second World War. Many of the brick buildings erected during the war are now part of the commercial and industrial enterprises in the business park. In 1948, Willy Pelz, founder of pelzGROUP, chose Wahlstedt as the location to establish a bandage wadding company.

With 800 employees, pelzGROUP is now the largest employer in Wahlstedt and celebrated its 75th anniversary a few months ago. To commemorate the occasion, Dr. Nikolas Bastian, the third-generation leader of the company, invited business partners to contribute to the Wahlstedt local history museum.​

The pelzGROUP quickly increased the amount received from EUR 1250 to EUR 4000. The aim is to completely renew the history trail installed ten years ago in the grounds of the naval artillery arsenal.

The director of the Wahlstedt adult education center, Angelika Remmers, who has been passionately committed for decades to bringing the history of Wahlstedt and the naval arsenal to life for future generations, invited Dr. Bastian and his sister-in-law Christiane Pelz to visit the Naval Arsenal Information and Documentation Center. The detailed memorial site is housed in the former waterworks bunker in Waldstraße and contains many unique exhibits from the time of wartime production and the post-war years, when over 30 companies with a wide range of expertise settled in Wahlstedt.

The visitors were impressed and promised to continue their efforts to preserve the culture of remembrance in Wahlstedt in the future. The VHS is currently looking for interested volunteers to work at the documentation center. Contact via the local history museum