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OLE CHR. GREENS FACTORIES
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1850 - 1898
Copenhagen and Hamburg

In 1850, Ole Christian Green went to Copenhagen, where he rented an apartment and some rooms in a warehouse at Maximilian Zinn in Quæsthusgade 38-39 . Zinn had previously operated an asphalt plant on the island of Amager , which partially burned the year before. Green bought the buildings for 4,500 rigsdaler of paper grocer Wilhelm Wanscher , who in the meantime had bought them from Zinn and simultaneously entered into a lease agreement with Green and the military who owned land along with a number of farm men in the village of Sundbyvester . A site of approx. 44,100 kvadratalen (21,000 square yards) .

On the 14th of October 1850 Green sought and obtained license to build his match stick factory in one of the remaining buildings . Since the plant was completed in the summer of 1851 he started the production and already before the year was ended, there were 50 children and five wives , which produced 80 million sticks . In July 1853  Green decided to buy all the land and when he did not need it all to his factory , he kept only a small part , parceled out and sold the rest.

That same year,  his manager C. A.  Müller developed a so-called indrulle- og oprettemaskine (collect- and correction machine) a machine which, together with another of his inventions, a grader , would mechanize a large part of the production. Green failed to obtain a patent on the machines as the drawings for it was not found adequate , but Green had already installed them and got them running in his factory , almost 11 years before Alexander Lagermann invented the automatic stick machines.

Green continued not only to mechanise its factory, in order at once to increase production while avoiding children and wives to have to endure the bad work environment that was in these operations , but he also experimented with making matches without the dangerous yellow phosphorus. In 1866 he applied for 5-year monopoly on such sticks, but without managing to achieve this.

In 1868 it finally succeeded for Green by developing some austrian test results and found a phosphorous-ignition mass. Green tried again a patent for his new invention , and this time succeeded in obtaining the patent. Subsequently, they also were patented in Sweden, the UK and North America.

On 3 July 1869  Green sold his factory to the partnership of Godthaab which on the 31st of December 1871 established "Actie Tændstikfabriken Godthaab" (the Limited Match Factory Godthaab) , whose purpose was to manufacture and sell all kinds of matches, especially those by O. Chr Green invented , phosphorus-free matches. At the same time  Green sold his patent to the public limited company , however, so that this still remained a production secret , the recipe was kept in two identical copies in a bank vault in the Private Bank in Copenhagen respective Norddeutche Bank in Hamburg. The latter , as the principal owners of the limited liability company was German by Ole Christian Green's younger brother , Rasmus Brorson in the lead. Rasmus Brorsons company RB Green & Co. in Hamburg was accounted for total exports limited liability company, while the plant on Amager was responsible for production and sales in Denmark . As a director  O.C. Green was elected and with his son August Green to production manager, while the second of the sons , Sophus Wilhelm was elected to the bookkeeper.

At the same time  Kjøbenhavns Actie Tændstikfabrik (Copenhagen Match Factory Limited) was created, which was responsible for sales to RB Green & Co., which exported to several of the South American countries , various countries in Africa and Greenland , Iceland, Manila and Hong Kong. The domestic sales were made through the wholesalers Menck & Co. , who was also one of the Danish shareholders in the company.

Greens invention won the bronze medal in Stockholm in 1866 , silver medal in Nakskov in 1868 , silver medal in Altona in 1869 , silver cross in London in 1870 and bronze medal in Copenhagen in 1872.

Kjøbenhavns Actie Tændstikfabrik continues right up to the time, where Gosch & Co. buys Godthaab in 1898 , after which Gosch create a company with a very similar name Kjøbenhavns Aktie Tændstikfabrik ( a c was replaced by a k) , which continued sales to RB Green & Co. until the termination of the agreement in 1900.

As the new matchstick law was introduced in 1875 , it was not Green's patented phosphor-free matches that could go on, but instead the Swedish so-called safety matches . One reason for this may be found in the Polytechnic College believes that the Greens matches were hygroscopic and therefore not always turned on safe in wet weather , in contrast to the Swedish . Without insinuating bias, it seems strange that Green also had a very large exports to include South America's humid climate.

Green continued to improve safety and health conditions at the plant:  in 1875 there was installed central heating in the factory instead of stoves , decreasing machine with associated loose boxes of matches were abolished , water supply and fire hydrants were placed so strategically that all facilities could be sprayed from 3 different wells , smoking was banned and held night watchman. Thus, the factory at the time avoiding any type of fire .

Green was always at the forefront of developments, including installs he tired advise department and associated increase in steam power , in order to become independent of the rising prices of tired advise from prison in Malmo . And in 1880 he established a thaw house where the frozen wood could thaw not to damage saws .

In 1882, Green had to go away for a cure for the sake of his health and in his absence August Green was appointed director , while the company's incumbent auditor , Emil Ortwed (RB Green's son ) and Sophus Wilhelm Green are commercial directors.

Ole Christian Green died on the 11th of July 1883 and the Articles of Association was amended to form a board of directors consisting of 2 persons from Copenhagen and 1 from Hamburg . The first members were C. A. Leth and O.C. Green's third son , Theodor Green from Copenhagen and RB Greens partner A. Soermann from Hamburg .

In 1896  Private Bank President Axel Heide approached to Godthaab that HE Gosch & Co. was interested in buying the company and after a series of negotiations this ended in May 1898 where a purchase proposal could be accepted by both parties, then August Green 6 August to announce the company's termination of the commercial register . Instead, a large company was established with the little colloquial name " HE Gosch & Co's Tændstikfabrikker og Actie Tændstikfabrikken Godthaab " . In Hamburg,  RB Green & Co. continued, now known as RB Green & Soermann to produce inks and varnishes until they were taken over by the German company BÜFA in 1897.
THE DANISH MATCH MUSEUM   
1838 - Benjamin Hellmann
1840 - Rohmell´s fabrikker
1841 - Ramsing & Stonor
1842 - Hans Andreas Reuter
1842 - Anne Marie Granberg
1843 - Hans Diderich Schmilau
1843 - Frederik Georg Kølbel
1843 - Carl Axel Hörner
1843 - Carl Peter Rolff
1843 - Christian Peter Beck
1843 - Christophersen og Nielsen
1843 - Johan Carl Müller
1844 - Svovlstikkefabrikken Møllegade
1844 - Arnold Theofilus Müllertz
1844 - Carl Ferdinand Gundorph

1844 - Hassing og Smith
1844 - Carl Frederik Kryger
1844 - Peter Conradsen
1844 - Philip Åkermann
1845 - Niels Thuesen
1846 - Niels Sørensen
1847 - Rasmus Rasmussen
1847 - Søren og Jørgen Brummer
1848 - Frederik Hansen
1850 - Greens fabrikker
1850 - Carl Johan Staal
1850 - Peder Andersen
1853 - Gümoes & Beeken
1853 - Johan Wilhelm Otto
1857 - Carl Abraham Metz
1858 - Anders Sørensen & Co.
1862 - Sørens Larsen Sørensen

1864 - Randers Tændstikfabrik
1864 - Rasmus Langeland Mathiesen
1864 - Hintz & Co
1864 - Ludvig Hintze
1865 - Aalborg Svovlstikkefabrik
1865 - Peter Nielsen
1865 - Hans Jørgensen Svovlstikkefabrik
1865 - Adolph Madsen
1865 - Andreas Bernhard Bryndum
1866 - Carl Meyling
1866 - Lund & Hartmann
1867 - Johan Wilhelm Krause
1868 - Peter Christian Petersen

1868 - Kjær & Gottlieb
1872 - Pallesen & Davidsen
1875 - Kronen og Nørrebros tændstikfabrik
1876 - H.E. Gosch & Co
1884 - Tændstikfabrikken Merkur
1886 - Maare Tændstikfabrik
1890 - Norden og Godthaabsvej

1897 - Københavns Tændstikfabrik
1899 - Internationalt Tændstikkompagni

1901 - Tændstikfabrikken Glødefri
1901 - Købmændenes Tændstikfabrik
1901 - Københavns Tændstikfabrik & Merkur
1904 - Hellerup Tændstikfabrik

1907 - Otto Miram
1908 - KET & Union Allumettière
1916 - Frantz Nehammer
1921 - Hellerup & Glødefri
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