The Middle German Chemical Triangle (german: Mitteldeutsches Chemiedreieck or locally just ''Chemiedreieck'') is the industrial conurbation around the cities and towns of

Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the Germany, German States of ...

Merseburg Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...

and

Bitterfeld Bitterfeld () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2007 it has been part of the town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen. It is situated approximately 25 km south of Dessau, and 30 km northeast of Halle (S ...

in the North German state of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and

Schkeuditz Schkeuditz () is a Große Kreisstadt in the district of Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the White Elster river, 12 km northwest of Leipzig. Leipzig/Halle Airport is located in Schkeuditz. The letter processing center for ...

in the

Free State of Saxony Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procure ...

. Its name is derived from the dominant industries of the region – the

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

and

oil refining An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefie ...

industries. It is often referred to as the

Leuna Leuna is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, south of Merseburg and Halle, on the river Saale. The town is known for the ''Leunawerke'', at 13 km2 one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes in Germany, where a very wide range of ...

-Buna-

Chemical Triangle (''Chemiedreieck Leuna-Buna-Bitterfeld'') because these places are the oldest and most important in the region. Buna is not a town, but was the name of the first

synthetic rubber A synthetic rubber is an artificial elastomer. They are polymers synthesized from petroleum byproducts. About 32-million metric tons of rubbers are produced annually in the United States, and of that amount two thirds are synthetic. Synthetic rubbe ...

(

butadiene 1,3-Butadiene () is the organic compound with the formula (CH2=CH)2. It is a colorless gas that is easily condensed to a liquid. It is important industrially as a precursor to synthetic rubber. The molecule can be viewed as the union of two viny ...

and natrium) which was produced in the Buna factory at

Schkopau Schkopau is a municipality in the Saalekreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography It is situated at the confluence of the Saale River with its White Elster and Luppe tributaries, approx. north of Merseburg, and south of Halle. Sc ...

. Today

Dow Chemical The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastics ...

produces synthetic rubber in Schkopau which is marketed under the name of BUNA SB. Vockerode Plaste und Elaste Leuchtreklame DDR (cropped)

At the end of the 1950s the advertising slogan ''Plaste und Elaste aus Schkopau'' ("

Plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

and

Elastomer An elastomer is a polymer with viscoelasticity (i.e. both viscosity and elasticity) and with weak intermolecular forces, generally low Young's modulus and high failure strain compared with other materials. The term, a portmanteau of ''elastic p ...

from Schkopau") was introduced, in order to promote the spectrum of products of the Buna Chemical Works. The slogan was used especially on posters and neon lights. The best known light advert was on a tower on the northern abutment of the Elbe bridge at

Vockerode Vockerode is a village and a former municipality in the district of Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Oranienbaum-Wörlitz. At Vockerode, there was a large coal-fired power plant, the Vockerode Powe ...

on the transit route from Berlin to Hof (nowadays part of the BAB 9 motorway).

External links

The MDR of the Middle German Chemical Triangle and its history
{{coord, 51.3900, N, 12.1800, E, source:wikidata, display=title Chemical industry in Germany Economy of Saxony-Anhalt Economy of Saxony

See also

External links