In 1972 a factory for the production of graphite electrodes was established on this site. The original deed shows that the factory was founded on March 9, 1972, under the name CEGRAM. This stands for Compagnie de l'Électrographite de la Meuse. The construction of the factory took approximately a year, and the new company delivered its first finished products in 1973. It produced electrodes with a diameter between 400 and 500 mm, a length of 1800 mm, and a maximum weight of 800 kilograms. These electrodes are used in metallurgy, particularly in the steel industry.
Over the following years the company systematically installed improvements to the plant and the production process. In the mid-1980s, the company was hit by an economic recession. Through extensive restructuring and numerous layoffs, the company attempted to climb out of the slump.
Unfortunately the oversupply of graphite on the market, and particularly competition from Asia, hampered these efforts. From the mid-1990s onwards, the company began to record significant losses. So a few years later, the German parent company decided to cease operations at this site. The production process could no longer be brought into compliance with increasingly stringent environmental standards.
Between 1996 and 1999, large parts of the factory, including the furnaces and graphite units, were demolished. In 2008, a second dismantling took place, focusing on the metal fraction. At the time of my visit only a few empty sheds and silos, and this 'sieving tower' remained of the immense factory.
The building fell victim to vandalism multiple times, but fortunately, the upper floors remained relatively spared. Curiously enough, the grey, black tower was known locally as the 'greenshop'. An unknown artist found an ideal location in the tower ruins for an artwork of hanging figures. Two intertwined figures on the ground floor, somewhat reminiscent of the illustrious lovers of Pompeii, served as the inspiration for the name Usine Pompeii.