Winninger, M. Das Nibelungenwerk

OKH Toys: The tank factory in St. Valentin
Michael Winninger from St. Valentin has been dealing with this topic, which is still influential for St. Valentin today, for many years. He grew up in the immediate vicinity of the former Nibelungen factory and some of his family members worked in this factory. The author has succeeded in chronologically and thematically processing his collection of images, which includes about 1200 pictures, from the municipal archives, the archives of the former Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG (today Historical Archives - Engineering Center Steyr GmbH & Co KG) and from private archives.

The village of St. Valentin in western Lower Austria developed into one of the most important armament industry locations in the Third Reich during the Second World War due to the construction of the Nibelungenwerk. Under the camouflage name "Toy Factory", the Nibelungenwerk was planned as the largest and most modern German tank assembly plant with spacious housing estates. Despite wartime restrictions on construction and during production, the factory eventually rose to become the most important and largest manufacturer of the Panzerkampfwagen IV during the short production period from 1941 to 1945. It also held a special position among German tank assembly plants due to various circumstances. Today, tractors are produced in the remaining factory facilities.

The book will provide the interested reader with very detailed insights into the origins and operation of this tank assembly plant. In it, Michael Winninger begins by describing the construction and execution of the factory and settlement facilities. The following chapters describe the production and working conditions, the armoured vehicles produced as well as the air raids and the end of the war. This detailed historical documentation is underlined by the presentation of mostly still unpublished picture and document material from the company archives.