Very welcome to our old Zigarrenfabrik (cigar factory). My grand-grandfather Heinrich Helmecke founded this factory in 1928 and because of that he was able to make a living for his family and himself despite the hard and difficult war and post-war times. He was of small stature and lived from 1879 to 1956.
As you can see on the photographs there used to be a shop at the front side of the house whereas Heinrich, his wife and their two children, Heinrich and Anna, lived in a flat in the back the house.
In the back part of the house, which has been converted into a flat, used to be the factory where the delivered tobacco was dried, cut and rolled up to fine cigars by some of Neundorf´s patient and helpful women who did this all day long. The tobacco was hung up and dried in the upper rooms where you can find the attic of the house today. There one can still smell the smooth and gentle aroma of dried tobacco that lingers in the old beams and rafters.
Furthermore, Heinrich Helmecke was famous for having the first car in Neundorf/ Anhalt after the war. He had a so called "Dreikantfeile" which was a true sensation in Neundorf and its sourroundings in those times.

Later, his son, Heinrich Helmecke, was not able to continue leading the cigar factory after 1952 due to the economic conditions during the GDR.  Due to that the cigar factory was converted into a residential building. The old shop in the front part of the building existed until 1997. In the aftermath it was converted into a residential building as well. Today it is part of the flat "The cigar shop" in form of its bathroom.