1948 / Reconstruction and Explosion

Carl Wurster (1900–1974, chairman of the BASF Board of Executive Directors from 1952 to 1965) remembers, “The years of reconstruction from March 1945 to the currency reform of June 21, 1948 have surely been the most difficult in BASF’s history. What we have achieved would have been unthinkable without the dedication of the entire workforce, who carried out their challenging duties loyally under difficult conditions and with far too little in the way of food.”

In 1948, BASF again employs 21,951 workers at the former factories in Ludwigshafen and Oppau, which now form the southern and northern parts of the Ludwigshafen site.