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Michael Winninger
The "Toy Factory"
History of the Nibelungen Tank Works in St. Valentin
The village St. Valentin, situated in the western part of Niederösterreich was a growing and in the end very important armament production center in the Third Reich. The Nibelungenwerk was planned as the hughest and most modern tank production factory with big housing facilities for workers, this under the camouflage name "Plaything-Factory". Altough the building was hindered by many wartime restrictions, the Nibelungenwerk, during his production time 1941-1945, grow to the most important manufacturer of Panzerkampfwagen IV (German main battle tank). Nowadays in the remaining part of the Nibelungenwerk tractors are built.
Michael Winninger from St. Valentin is occupied since his childhood with this topic. He was grown closest to the former Nibelungen works and some of his family members were working in that factory. The author was able, based on some 1200 historic photographs from the town's and Stey-Daimler-Puch's Archives and private collections as well with documents, to finalise a chronical history of the Nibelungenwerk at war.
His book shall give the readers very deep views inside of constructing the factory and of its production. Starting with a part about the planning and constructing of the factory and residental aera it shows then the poor working conditions, the producing of armament materials (mainly tanks mark IV) and finally the air raids against the works and the end of the war in St. Valentin. Underlined is the story with many never published photographs and documents.
Publication roughly: German: IV-2011 / Englisch: II-2012
ISBN: 978-3-905944-05-1
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