Kreidezeit, fabrica de vopsele naturale unde rândunelele au cuib în secția de producție

In the run-up to the fair, accommodation prices in Hannover are prohibitively expensive. That is, if, by some absurd absurdity, you manage to find a hotel. Long before LIGNA it's impossible to find a free room in the city. That's why we decided to stay 50 km from Hanover and commute daily during the fair. It was a good choice because it was much cheaper, including renting a car and paying for gas. What's more, we stayed in a gorgeous little forest village - a few houses on the edge of the forest - which, we were to find out on the first day of the shuttle, was only a few kilometers from Kreidezeit Germany's headquarters. How we got to the German company producing natural materials for wood and the home, and what impressed us there, is what follows.

The desire to go to Hanover by a different route led us to the Kreidezeit factory

As tucked away in the forest, Glashütte seems lost from the world, but it's just 5 km from the highway. It's a small village of just a few houses, where the silence at night is perfect. The house we stayed in is part of a group of three, two for renting and one for hosts. The houses are small but with everything you need. Downstairs is the kitchen, bathroom and living room, and upstairs are two bedrooms. The living room also has a terrace where, if we had the time, we could spend all day gazing at the forest and the fairytale cottage at its base.

As we had gotten there on the highway, the second morning we decided to change the route, especially as the area looked beautiful. So we chose category B roads, not so fast but with the advantage of a more attractive landscape. We hadn't gone 5 minutes when we entered a quiet little village - Lamspringe - with old houses and lots of greenery. On the outskirts of the village, on buildings that looked more like a farm than a factory, I saw the Kreidezeit logo.

We didn't stop then. We had to get to LIGNA, we had meetings already set up that we couldn't miss. But we set out to contact Naturalpaint, distributor of Kreidezeit in Romaniato make an appointment for the next period. It was a pity to miss such an opportunity, especially as luck had smiled on us.

Kreidezeit, a quiet place without the smells of paint factories

The distributor in Romania set our appointment for the next morning at 9 am, so before going to the fair we stopped for a short visit at Kreidezeit's headquarters. As soon as we got out of the car, I noticed the lack of any paint factory smell. The place looked very much like a farm, especially as it was quiet, without the usual factory bustle.

Kreidezeit is a family company founded by Gert Ziesemann in 1987. The business grew out of a desire to replace industrial paints based on titanium dioxide. The technology produced a weak acid by-product that was discharged into the North Sea, endangering flora and fauna. Gert made a paint based on fresh cheese, borax and chalk and used it to paint the walls of his own house. He wanted to give the recipe to others, but they wanted the ready-made product. That's how he started manufacturing in 1987, thus laying the foundation for the company. At first, it was more of a hobby, selling the product at fairs. The publicity brought by a TV show in 1992, in which Gert explained how very good quality paints could be made without using petroleum and toxic chemical processes, gave the impetus for the development. He rented a larger space, hired people and large-scale production began. Continued development led to the purchase in 2002 of an old gater in Sehlem, a village belonging to the municipality of Lamspringe, where he moved production and where Kreidezeit now has its headquarters.

Gert not only set up a factory for natural home products, he passed on to his team a philosophy of work and life that is still alive today. Even though he is no longer with them (he retired in 2019 and passed away last year), his daughters who have taken over the company and the whole team follow the same idea he left behind: if it cannot be produced in an environmentally friendly way, it is not produced. It's what we also Michael Meißner - technical consultant and responsible for all technical documentation - who introduced us to the company and the products. You can find the video here. Unfortunately, we couldn't film in the factory, as the processes and materials were protected by patents. But outside the production area, there were no restrictions. So we discovered a curiosity of the place that is not only part of Gert's heritage, but also a guarantee of natural and clean technologies.

At Kreidezeit, swallows have a special entrance

It's the swallows. And not 2-3 but dozens, maybe even hundreds. Swallows are everywhere at Kreidezeit. They have nests in the raw materials warehouse, the finished goods warehouse, the factory, the offices. They come and go as they please, they're protected, no one's allowed to keep them out. Open umbrellas have been hung from the ceilings to protect the drums and collect bird droppings. Inevitably, some of the dirt ends up on some of the drums. That's why, in addition to the usual labels, one is always added with writing on it: The mess is from the birds. Don't panic, it's a good thing.

Swallows have always been Gert's protégées. Michael recounted that in the past, when he did the company's insurance, the people in charge came to check the place out. All the windows were open so the swallows could come and go as they pleased. The insurance company representatives said the windows had to be closed or they couldn't take out theft and fire insurance. Gert agreed to close the windows, but immediately after they left he took a hammer and smashed the wall above the doors. He practically knocked several bricks out of the wall so that the birds could move around freely. It only took a day for the swallows to learn their new pathway, which still exists above every human access door to the factory or warehouse.

What does Kreidezeit produce? Outstanding finishes with natural materials and clean technologies

At Kreidezeit in Germany, they manufacture with respect for nature and the environment: oils and waxes for woodpaints and wall plasters. They are materials recognized throughout the world and used from the ordinary finish in any home to the restoration of landmarks of universal interest. Natural pigments are also manufactured here, which allow a very wide range of colors to be obtained, both for oil and wall paints and famous Moroccan plaster Tadelaktso popular for finishing the walls of bathrooms or showers.

Interest in developing new products is continuous. The sources of inspiration are often old cathedrals and churches where famous craftsmen or painters have used special recipes. This is how they discovered the film-forming and adhesive qualities of whey, the emulsifying qualities of egg or the binding qualities of beer and used these natural materials in their paint recipes.