Alsfeld smokes!Foundation of the Ludwig Raab pipe factory

Only the founding year, 1868, is known about the origins of this company. Johann Ludwig Raab was not a native of Alsfeld. Born in Utphe (Hungen) in 1830, he likely came to Alsfeld in the 1850s. At that time, the pipe factory of August Ernst Waldeck, whose ancestors had also immigrated, had already existed here since 1837. It is assumed that Raab initially apprenticed and worked with Waldeck before establishing his own business. It was not until 1873 that he was admitted as a citizen of Alsfeld with the professional title “horn turner.”

The business developed well. By 1878, he employed “4 assistants” in his “horn and wood turning shop with store.” According to the trade journal, the workforce grew to 11–20 employees by 1896. In that same year—the founder having passed away in 1894—his son Ludwig acquired the mill site on Altenburger Straße and erected new production buildings. During the first half of the 20th century, market conditions deteriorated drastically. Despite multiple changes in production, the fourth generation of the founding family saw no future prospects.

In 1991, the Ludwig Raab company was removed from the commercial register. Only the Art Nouveau “Villa Raab,” built in 1904 on Altenburger Straße, remains as a reminder of the once-flourishing enterprise. Today, the Villa Raab, which was restored between 2015 and 2019, serves as a hotel and conference center. (NH)