BASF: The Chemical Company

Everything here seems to revolve around water. There are the Rhein and Neckar rivers (the Neckar is the smaller one, just for reference), and if you say water, you will get mineral or tonic water. Regular water is "Still" water...and BASF revolves around water too.

BASF is a short jaunt out of town, easily reachable by train. The Mannheim location is over 10sq km, and has over 36,000 workers. When I got there they had handed out a paper that said "no pictures"...and then they clarified (after I put my camera away) that pictures at the visitor's center was ok. Ah well, might be able to find some pictures from others.

The visitor's center had several floors, starting with the raw materials. They showed us their super-absorber material, which was pretty cool. Before liquid it looked like and felt like the kosher salt; afterwards it was a lot softer. Apparently it is used in baby diapers, and is being engineered for crop use in places like Africa, where there is drought for long periods of time.

They also had comparisons between real and artificial scents, and although I wasn't able to tell the difference immediately, at the second whiff the artificial tang came through strongly.

The next floor was about the history of BASF. Apparently there was already some infrastructure in Mannheim, they discovered the byproduct was useful, and formed BASF. Most of the buildings are modern(er), although one is from 1915. *Even though they all look like awful* I think they said they were bombed over 15 times...which is why they have multiple bunkers in the area.

The next floor up was a comparison of the size of BASF Mannheim to other cities...it's pretty big. After that, they showed us all the useful applications for their products. They are somehow involved in crop production, bathing suits, sneakers, insulation, etc. They were also quite insistent about how environmentally sensitive they are. They make sure the water they return to the river is clean, and try to use every "waste" product...although the tour guide did let it out that what they can't use, they burn...that doesn't sound so environmentally friendly to me.

We then went on a bus tour of the grounds...they are quite depressing. There are a lot of pipes for transporting the chemicals, and there are 3 power plants. Although when they rebuilt after the war they made it "a lot more open," it feels quite closed in...I hate to imagine what it used to feel like. The accounting and HR departments also look like they are located in warehouses...and according to our guide, sometimes the papers turn blue from the indigo dye that floats in from the 'Fabrik' production building nearby...somehow, I don't think I would like to work at this location...even on the bus with no windows open you could really smell the chemicals strongly in some areas.

All in all, it was an interesting look at this company...and now if anybody asks me if I know the company, I can say I toured in Mannheim!