The Scheufelen paper mill was one of the best known and most traditional paper mills in Germany for over 100 years. Founded in 1855 in Lenningen at the foot of the Swabian Alb, the company was characterised by its innovative strength and high quality standards. But in 2020, the company had to file for insolvency and cease operations – the sad end to a success story spanning more than 160 years. Scheufelen’s insolvency marks the end of an important chapter in the German paper industry.
Foundation and early years
The history of the Scheufelen paper mill began in 1855, when paper manufacturer Johann Scheufelen founded the company in Lenningen. The region was ideal for paper production, as the nearby river provided the necessary water power and the forests of the Albtraufs and the Swabian Alb provided sufficient wood for paper production. Initially, Scheufelen focussed on the production of high-quality paper for book printing. Early on in the company’s history, Scheufelen focussed on quality and continuously invested in technical innovations, with which the company made a name for itself in the industry.
Over the years, Scheufelen continued to expand its capacities and increasingly relied on machines that mechanised the production process and thus increased efficiency. As a result, Scheufelen was able to continuously improve both production increases and the quality of the paper.
Growth and expansion in the 20th century
Over the course of the 20th century, Papierfabrik Scheufelen grew and became synonymous with high quality and innovation. The company experienced a strong upswing, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, when it also focussed on speciality papers for high-quality book printing and the graphic arts industry. During this time, Scheufelen expanded its production capacities, continuously modernised its facilities and further expanded its reputation as a manufacturer of quality and speciality papers.
A milestone was the commissioning of the so-called paper machine 3 in 1971, which was particularly modern for its time and contributed to a further increase in production. But it was not only in production that Scheufelen set standards. The company attached great importance to sustainability and environmentally friendly production. As early as the 1990s, Scheufelen focussed on recycled paper and environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, and in the 2010s, paper such as Scheufelen’s grass paper from Lenningen, which was produced not from wood but from grass as a raw material, was popular for a while in the field of environmentally friendly packaging.
The best-known types of paper
An important part of the history of Papierfabrik Scheufelen was the development and production of speciality papers, which were highly valued in the industry. The best-known paper grades include, most recently: Heaven 42, a particularly bright white picture printing paper that was taken over by IGEPA, phoenixmotion, bvs and bro. Proof GmbH also offers special proofs for Heaven 42, which match the bright white paper very well.
Crisis and insolvency
In the 2000s, the paper industry was increasingly characterised by challenges: Global competition intensified, digitalisation and the decline in traditional printing led to falling demand for paper, while rising raw material prices and increasing pressure to be environmentally responsible put a strain on many paper manufacturers. The Scheufelen paper mill was also only able to meet these challenges to a limited extent. Added to this was the problem that the location in the more rural area at the foot of the Alb was proving increasingly difficult. While paper mills on the Rhine, for example, were able to have large quantities of all preliminary products and raw materials delivered by ship at low cost, in Lenningen everything had to be delivered by lorry, as the nearest navigable river, the Neckar, could only be navigated by ship as far as Stuttgart. This meant that everything for Scheufelen had to be laboriously loaded from the ship onto the lorry, and the lorry was also necessary for the removal of the finished papers: What was still a locational advantage 100 years ago now turned out to be a major problem due to the changed framework conditions.
The pressure on the company grew when it failed to make the necessary adjustments to the new market conditions in good time. In particular, increasing competition from Asia and rising operating costs in Europe led to a gradual increase in financial burdens.
Despite years of endeavouring to remain competitive through innovation and the expansion of niche markets such as sustainable papers and digital printing solutions, Scheufelen was no longer able to bear the burden. In 2020, the company filed for insolvency for the last time and ceased operations.
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