Heritage blue plaque for Fuchs factory
The latest heritage site has been unveiled to honour Fuchs who later became a household name.
Tony Burisch of the Heidelberg Heritage Association awarded the latest blue plaque for heritage on August 12 to the factory where CJ Fuchs started his manufacturing empire.
The plaque is number 54 in the heritage series. The sponsors were Neels and Henli Malan.
The workshops were originally the Fuchs’ factory. It is estimated it was built around 1930.
Carl Fuchs’ parents were Verena Schneider and Herman Fuchs. On December 18, 1904, Carl Julius Fuchs was born. Carl started as a plumbing apprentice at 14 years of age.
Fuchs married Emily Lillian Humphries on September 8, 1928, in Turffontein, Johannesburg. There were no children born to the couple.
Due to not having any children, the couple started the Fuchs Foundation.
In 1929 the Fuchs couple started their own company CJ Fuchs (Pty) Ltd by selling all the possessions they owned to raise the finances.
Fuchs originally started the business making tin helmets for soldiers during the Second World War. During that time the couple together with one worker worked in three shifts making the military helmets.
From there Fuchs progressed to pots and pans, household appliances and even military equipment. That is where the company Fuchsware started.
The building was at one stage a wool factory and thereafter the home to Heidelberg Tractors from 1963 to 2016. At present, the premises are used as a recycling plant.
Reference: Herbert Prins.
