Editing ORWO (section)

===ORWO (VEB Film und Chemiefaserwerk) ===
[[File:ORWO Orwochrom UT21 - 135 film for colour slides.jpg|thumb|ORWOChrom UT21 - 135 film for colour slides (before 1990)]]
On the last day of 1953, Agfa Wolfen was returned to the GDR by the USSR as one of the last reparations companies. At this time the company still shared the AGFA trademark with Agfa Leverkusen and both companies produced films under the AGFA brand with the same names, such as Isopan F. To distinguish them, the film edge markings were L IF for Agfa Leverkusen, and W IF for Agfa Wolfen. Trading of materials however continued between plants.

In 1953 in a trade agreement it was agreed that VEB Film- und Chemiefaserwerk Agfa Wolfen would have the sole rights to the AGFA brand in Eastern Europe, and Agfa AG would retain sole rights to the AGFA brand in the rest of the world. This hampered Wolfen's exports and therefore after 1964 films from Wolfen were rebranded ORWO (ORiginal WOlfen).

After the formation of the [[Combine (enterprise)|combine]] ''VEB Fotochemisches Kombinat Wolfen'' in 1970, the ''VEB Filmfabrik Wolfen'' became its headquarters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chemiepark.de/der-chemiepark/historie/#collapse-11162|title=The Chemical Park – History|last=|first=|date=|website=www.chemiepark.de|publisher=Chemical Park Bitterfeld-Wolfen|access-date=2016-10-27}}</ref> Factories integrated into the new Fotochemisches Kombinat were ''VEB Fotopapierwerk Dresden'', ''VEB Fotopapierwerk Wernigerode'', ''VEB Gelatinewerk Calbe'', ''VEB Fotochemische Werke Berlin'' and the ''VEB Foto- und Lichtpauspapierwerk Berlin''. The now Kombinat also began developing and producing other information recording materials, such as magnetic, video, and computer tapes.

ORWO-branded [[Transparency (photography)|35mm colour slide film]] became available in the United Kingdom in the 1970s through magazine advertisements for [[mail order]] suppliers. It was a cheaper alternative to the mainstream brands available at the time.

ORWO prepared the changeover from [[Agfacolor|AgfaColor]] to [[C-41 process|C-41]], similar to considerations in the [[Soviet Union|USSR]], but had not completed it by the [[Die Wende|end of the GDR]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.defa.de/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=1069|title=Rohfilm|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=DEFA Stiftung|access-date=2016-10-27}}</ref> which led to decreasing sales figures in western countries, where the [[Kodak]] C-41 process dominated the market.

In 1989, at its peak, a total of 14,500 employees were employed at the Wolfen site, encompassing an area of 165 hectares. They produced 40 million square meters of base material, of which 50 percent was processed to raw film.  200 different film stocks were made, converted to over 2500 products. The production height of magnetic recording materials was 2 million square meters, and in the chemical fibre sector, around 100,000 tons of various pulp, viscose products and special products were delivered.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.orwonet.de/en/company/history|title=History|last=|first=|date=|website=www.orwonet|publisher=|access-date=2021-10-24}}</ref>

====Privatisation and Breakup====
Following [[German reunification]] in 1990 the holding company was [[Privatization|privatised]] as ORWO AG with Folienwerk Wolfen GmbH an early spin off. The [[Treuhandanstalt|Treuhand]] liquidated the company in 1994 and film production ceased. Attempts were made to revive the company and in 1995, Berlin-based photo merchant Heinrich Mandermann joined ORWO, and on April 1, 1996, ORWO films were put back on the market. However, they were no longer produced locally, merely assembled from products from other manufacturers such as [[List of discontinued photographic films|Forte]] and [[Ilford]]. Due to the owners illness the company was again insolvent in 1997.

A number of separate successor companies emerged from the remnants of the former industrial behemoth, all suppliers to the optical, electrical and film industries: <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chemiepark.de/1/der-chemiepark/firmen-am-standort/|title=The Chemical Park – Companies at the location|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=Chemical Park Bitterfeld-Wolfen|access-date=2016-10-27}}</ref>
* ''Folienwerk Wolfen GmbH'' founded 1991, PET films for packaging, printing, medical and industrial uses.
* ''Organica Feinchemie GmbH Wolfen'', founded in 1995, organic fine chemistry.
* ''FEW Chemicals GmbH'', founded 1997, speciality and fine chemistry.
* ''Island Polymer Industries GmbH'', founded 1998, Triacetate Cellulose (TAC) film production using former ORWO Wolfen facility, for photographic ([[film base]]) and optical markets, largest cast film manufacturer in Europe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.islandpolymer.com/about/|title=About us|last=|first=|date=|website=www.islandpolymer.com|publisher=Island Polymer Industries|access-date=2021-11-07}}</ref>
* ''ORWO FilmoTec GmbH'', founded 1998, Cine films and related technical films.
* ''ORWO Net AG'', founded 1999, Digital photo supplies, photofinishing.


The ORWO Net GmbH retained the rights to the ORWO trademark for a variety of photographic products.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rainer-karlsch.de/50-jahre-orwo|title=50 Jahre Orwo|website=Wirtschaftshistoriker Rainer Karlsch|language=de|access-date=2019-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122195943/http://www.rainer-karlsch.de/50-jahre-orwo|archive-date=2019-01-22|url-status=dead}}</ref>