CARTIERA VITA MAYER [IT]
Exploration #254 Cartiera Vita Mayer. Paper production along the Olona valley was already present in the 1700s. One of the oldest paper mills was located in Lonate Ceppino and became Cartiera Enrico Vita & C. in 1897. The management was then passed on to the sons who expanded it with new buildings and machinery; a few years later, with the marriage between Tilde Vita and Sally Mayer, a member of an important industrial family from Turin, the name became the definitive and famous name of Cartiera Vita & Mayer. The paper mill developed further, also thanks to the creation of the Valmorea railway which passed close to the factory: in 1908 it was already employing 440 people and producing 6,000 t of paper a year.
It was hit several times by violent floods of the Olona river (1908, 1911 and 1917), but this did not slow down its growth: a new renewal of the machinery took place during the First World War, and in the 20s and 30s new huge buildings and a vocational school for the training of employees were built. In 1937, a paper pulp plant (8,000 t per annum) came into operation, but the following year the Mayers, a Jewish family, were forced to emigrate because of the racial laws, and ownership of the industry passed to the government.
Once the war was over, the Mayers took back the paper mill and launched a grandiose renovation plan: between that year and 1949 the factory was enlarged with new, huge pavilions, and a power station was built on the hill above it, with a soaring concrete chimney that still marks its presence today. Despite the severe flooding in 1951, the following year a large plot of land to the south of the factory was purchased, where a new factory was erected, which took the name of Cartiera ViMa, which we will report on in another exploration.
The 1950s and 1960s were the golden years: there were 2,500 employees and six goods trains ran to and from the factory every day. Production of paper for hygienic products began (1957) and two adjacent companies located in Fagnano Olona, Cartiera Sterzi and Sacchettificio Bisson & C., were purchased and renamed Cartiera Aquila.
The crisis, due to competition from Eastern European countries and the shortage of timber, began in 1971. Agreements with the government to save the company were a failure: only 2 million lire were obtained instead of the 6 million requested, and in exchange Vita Mayer had to take over a number of paper mills in central and southern Italy, whose economic situation was even worse. As it was no longer economically viable to continue the service, the Valle Olona railway closed in 1976, which, together with two violent floods (11 June 1975 and 1 October 1976), dealt the company the final blow. The two mills were finally closed on 11 August 1977.
Since then, the cartiera Vita Mayer paper mill has remained in a state of total disrepair and nature has been able to take over many of the buildings. Partial redevelopment work began in 2017, involving the disposal of asbestos and the demolition of some buildings, leading to a future clean-up of the area. The work is currently (2021) still stopped (source: wikipedia).
