If you drive by car from west to east on the main highway A1, in the village of Margina, you can see on the left side an imposing old building made entirely of red bricks.
I drive this route many times every year on my way to Bucharest, and I have noticed the continuous degradation of this beautiful structure. This year, I stopped there to take some photos and gather information about this remarkable building, now in an advanced state of decay. Near the site, I spoke with a man who had once worked there.
The factory was built in 1916 by a German company, back when this part of Romania was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was once a famous vinegar factory. In the 1970s and 1980s, around 700 people worked there. The raw material was beech wood, which is abundant in the Romanian mountains. From this, they produced vinegar, acetone, ethyl alcohol, and other substances that were exported throughout Europe.
Bushes inside factory
After the fall of the communist regime in our country, the new owners closed the factory—as happened with many other industrial facilities—and simply sold the sophisticated equipment as scrap metal.
Now, a factory that could have been preserved as a historic monument and technological attraction has become a sad ruin.
Margina Vinegar Factory
Old lithography from 30s
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