Hope springs eternal
Dear readers
While I am writing these lines, tens of thousands of people are gathering in stadiums and public squares, scorning face masks and flouting distancing rules, while celebrating the big European football festival that would have been held last year if it had not been for the pandemic. At the same time, I have received a message in my mailbox that Tecnargilla, which was set to take place at the end of September in Rimini, has had to be postponed for another year (page 3). Please, don’t misunderstand me: as a football fan, I am relishing the many thrilling, edge-of-your-seat games and all the hype that goes with such tournaments. I do wonder, though, whether something isn’t slightly off kilter when it comes to the priorities being set recently. Although hundreds of thousands of people in Europe are fighting for their existence precisely because they are following the Corona rules, such that so many things are no longer economically viable, all that no longer ranks as quite so important providing sufficient cameras are there to convey emotional images of jubilant or grief-stricken teams and their fans into our living rooms at home. The last remaining hope of an international format for the brick and tile industry this year is pinned on the Clemson Brick Forum, which, according to the latest information, will take place from 4 to 6 October in South Carolina/USA. Will we meet each other there? We’ll see …
Against the background of the Lingl rescue, I am delighted to publish the first part of a comprehensive paper on raw material enthalpy from this company, working in collaboration with the research institute IAB Weimar (page 26). The publication of this paper was scheduled for an earlier issue, but had to be postponed on account of Lingl’s insolvency. With the takeover of the company by the Schug family (Lippert GmbH & Co. KG), Lingl will now remain part of the clay brick and tile community.
A special anniversary is celebrated this year by Gottfried Tonwerke (page 38). One hundred years ago, Adolf Gottfried began extracting high-grade clays from the Wildstein Basin in Fonsau/Egerland. Responsibility for the business now lies with Christian Gottfried as Managing Director in the third generation of the family, which is rising to the challenges of an energy-intensive mining operation and trusting further in the much-needed miner’s good fortune.
I hope that this and the other articles in this issue provide you with insightful and enjoyable reading.
Best regards
Wolfgang Deil
ZI-Redakteur / ZI-Editor
