In the Futurium exhibition center in Berlin, top politicians from the SPD, Greens and FDP signed the traffic light coalition agreement. The paper with the red-yellow-green strings on which the government program is written comes from Zerkall near Düren, just like the paper for the Basic Law or the condolence book for Lady Di. Hans-Wilhelm Hambloch, 55, one of the two managing directors, explains what the handmade paper is all about.
SZ: Your paper was shown on television for minutes today. All the important politicians of the new government have immortalized themselves on it, a symbolic moment. Have you looked at that, Mr. Hambloch?
Hans-Wilhelm Hambloch: I couldn’t do that. Our big moment was yesterday anyway. We handed the coalition agreement over to Mr Nietan. This is the treasurer of the SPD. He brought the contract to Berlin in his trunk. It wasn’t signed then, of course it is a lot more valuable now.
Have you ever read it?
In pieces.
And how do you like it?
Between the lines I keep reading the advice to develop something new. I like that. Düren is a hotspot in papermaking – and cotton and wood fibers won’t be around forever.
Is that actually recycled paper? The Greens in particular are very keen on sustainability.
We have different qualities, we have been around for 100 years, our paper is not a disposable product, it is mainly made by hand. Our paper has a long durability.
Another big issue for the new government is digitization. How does that fit your paper?
Paper sales are not increasing, of course, but to be honest: people have been talking about the paperless office for 25 years, but it just doesn’t work without it.
Afraid that in a few months someone will say: The coalition agreement is not worth the paper it is on?
No, such a contract is not an end in itself. It’s about filling it with life. What counts is the people, not the paper. And I always have the hope that everyone in politics wants to do something good for our country.
Hans-Wilhelm Hambloch, 55, is one of the two managing directors of the Zerkall paper mill.
(Photo: private)
You have already supplied the handmade paper for the 1949 Basic Law and the two-plus-four treaty. And now for the coalition agreement. How do you get such orders?
The original owners were somehow connected to Adenauer, they were meeting in Bonn at the time, that’s not that far. The fact that we would deliver the paper for the coalition agreement was agreed long before the general election. Mr Nietan is not only the treasurer, but also a member of the Bundestag for Düren. He was visiting us in the spring when the idea came up to usher in the new era together. This kind of paper doesn’t change from one day to the next, it has to mature, it takes six to eight weeks. You need to dry and moisten this, and then dry and smooth it again so it isn’t too rough. I think the coalition agreement was written faster than the paper was made for it.
Not only do you deliver to politics, you also put Harry Potter or the condolence book for Lady Di on paper. What is the difference between magic paper and coalition paper?
The magic paper has leaking fibers on the edge, the coalition agreement is cut. That looks neater.
And what is your favorite paper?
I like wedding and birth announcements best. But at the moment we are still struggling to get the paper machine running again, on July 14th the tide was here, the whole area was under water. Fortunately, we had stored the 1000 sheets for the coalition agreement higher up.