On August 25, we celebrated another highlight of our anniversary year: The Product & Service Center in Lauchhammer, Germany, was transformed into a unique event location.
The location and date were no coincidence: just a few hundred meters from our site, Benedicta Margaretha Baroness von Löwendal fired up the first blast furnace on August 25, 1725, laying the foundation for TAKRAF Group and the industrialization of Lusatia.
Hardly any other German heavy industry company has experienced this anniversary, which is why it was celebrated on August 25, 2025, with around 300 guests from the worlds of politics, business, culture and the region.
We were particularly pleased to receive words of welcome that impressively underscored the importance of our company and the region:
- Robert Crumbach, Deputy Prime-Minister of the State of Brandenburg
- Barbara Meyer, Saxon State Secretary for Infrastructure and Regional Development
- Alexander Erbert, Deputy and Deputy District Administrator of the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district
- Dr. Klaus Freytag, Lusatia Representative of the Minister President of the State of Brandenburg
The introductory reception was followed by the official honors of the city of Lauchhammer and the Lauchhammer Art Casting Museum Foundation, which honored important personalities and their achievements for the city of Lauchhammer.
Furthermore, there was a premiere. The TAKRAF film was shown to an external audience for the first time and received great feedback.
Our personal highlight (and that of many guests) was our time tunnel as the “gateway” to the event location. With the help of eight videos, several exhibits, and the right lighting and sound effects, it was truly impressive! The time tunnel was a journey through three centuries of industrial and company history. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to our colleagues, who spent weeks compiling the content and presenting it in such an appealing and thrilling way.
Thomas Jabs and the mayor of Lauchhammer, Mirko Buhr, then gave their speeches. In them, they emphasized the historical significance of Lauchhammer's industrial culture as well as the innovative strength and future prospects of TAKRAF Group.
Thomas Jabs used important historical events from the past 300 years to illustrate how TAKRAF Group has repeatedly reinvented and transformed itself. One example in particular stuck in the audience's minds as the evening progressed:
“When people talk about the future today, names like Google, Amazon, Tesla, and Nvidia quickly come to mind. Hardly anyone thinks about mining. And yet, this is precisely where a crucial key to the energy transition and digital transformation lies.”, says Thomas Jabs.
One example illustrates this clearly:
Microsoft is currently building a new data center in Chicago with a floor space of 50 x 80 meters. Each of the 56 containers houses around 2,000 servers. More than 2,000 tons of copper are being used in this data center alone. To extract this amount, around 250,000 tons of copper ore are needed – with an average copper content of 0.8% in Chile. In addition, around 750,000 tons of waste rock have to be moved. That means one million tons of material for a single data center. And hundreds of such centers are currently being built worldwide.
"It is often overlooked that modern technologies are based on mining. Without the raw materials that are extracted and processed using our equipment, there would be no digitalization, no energy transition, and no sustainable infrastructure," emphasizes Thomas Jabs. With 15 companies now belonging to the Group, 22 locations, and over 1,000 employees worldwide, we have a unique network of technical expertise, market knowledge, and project management skills.
“The knowledge that our teams have built up over decades has become rare on the market today – and at the same time more valuable than ever,” emphasizes Jabs. “We are aware of society's demands for sustainable solutions, and this is also reflected in our new claim, ‘For Mining with Meaning.,’” concludes Thomas Jabs.
The 300th anniversary was a moving moment of reflection and, at the same time, a strong signal for the future of TAKRAF Group and the region. We would like to thank all contributors, partners, and guests for this special evening!
The following video gives you a little glimpse into the evening.
Innovation out of tradition – It pays to talk to a specialist!