Our History
The history of the production unit of our company begins in Tilsit (now Sovetsk) in 1898, when Waldhof founded a complete paper-and-pulp production, called “Zellstofffabrik Waldhof – Tilsit”, on existing 8 Dutch saw-mills. Apart from the Tilsit production unit, Waldhof owned another pulp company in Mannheim (Germany), called “Zellstoff Waldhof - Mannheim”, which was founded in 1884 and later became a part of SCA Hygiene Products and SCA FlexPack Papers.
“Zellstofffabrik Waldhof - Tilsit” contained: three pulp factories (two of which had a complete manufacturing process, starting with a pulp-cooking), two paper factories; a wood mill; mechanical repairs unit; sulphite-spirituous and lime factories and power station.
Until the Second World War, this factory was one of the largest in Germany, producing up to 300 tonnes of cellulose a day. Due to military action in the area, the factory was later destroyed. The small part of the factory that remained was physically and morally run down. The reconstruction of the mill began in 1945 and it was the beginning of a new biography. The unit were built out of their ruins and new machinery was put into use. In the next 55 years the mill saw many modernisations and reconstructions and new technologies were introduced.
Today, the mill turns a new page in its history...
