1864 - 1870
Århus
Since timber master Rasmus Langeland Mathiesen in 1864 returned
home after a long study tour in Europe, he started a match stick
factory in the neighboring building for his accommodation in
Mindegade . As
he was bussy in his carpentry and architectural services , he
immediately employeeded Lars Peter Larsen to take charge of the
production and hired a woman and some children aged 8-12 years.
Rasmus Langeland Mathiesen is probably one of the most unlucky
mathc stick manufacturers ever. Already when he stayed in
Mindegade he had 3 fires, the last so devastating that the
neighboring building burned down .
Rasmus Langeland found , however, soon a new place , this time
outside the city, at the farm Jægergården on the road to
Marselisborg , where he built a completely new factory building.
But a few months later when the building was completed and
production was started a new fire started in this factory too
and the buildings burned down .
He then went along with one of his distributors , grocery Eiler
Mehl, where Mehl built a factory for the production of chocolate
(later Elvirasminde ) and where Rasmus Langeland rented space at
one end of the factory which was located at Wallenstein's
redoubt at Hadsherredsvej .
Here Rasmus Langeland produced both round and square
sticks in many different colors and in 1867 he participated with
them in the exhibition in Paris .
Mehls factory was a great success and he soon needed more space.
He then agreed with Rasmus Langeland to move , and he found a
site at the end of Teglværksvej in the north of Aarhus.
Here he built a one-story factory building equipped with a tile
roof , a half- tags building and a latrine .
Two years later, Rasmus Langeland beyond its manager, Lars
employed 8-12 boys for the production , where he himself mixed
the sulfur and phosphorus , which were stored under water in a
locked chest .
On the 25th of
March 1870 the day ended as usual pm.
19:00 by Lars turning off and locking the premisses and deliver
the key back to Rasmus Langeland. But in the night a heavy
fire broke loose and once again the whole factory burned to the
ground.
The fire was so powerful that without this particular night had
been a strong easterly wind , it could very easily have spread
towards Aarhus.
This time was the last time that Rasmussen Langeland tried to
establish a match stick factory, and afterwards he devoted
himself to his carpentry and architecture and in 1872 he moved
to Copenhagen , where he was building inspector of the capital.
Fabriksbygningen på Hadsherredsvej, set fra Skansen. Rasmus
Langeland Mathiesens svovlstikkefabrik til højre, hvor
skorstenen fra satsrummet rager op gennem taget.
