What is "robur"

Robur was a marque of the Volkseigener Betrieb VEB Robur-Werke Zittau of East Germany (GDR). It mainly produced 3-ton trucks. The vehicles were produced in the town of Zittau in what now is South-East Saxony. Until 1946, company produced under the marque Phänomen (English: Phenomenon), and until 1957 under the name VEB Phänomen Zittau.

Robur is Latin for "strength", and, by derivation, "hard timber" or "oak". It can refer to:

• Robur the Conqueror, an 1886 novel by Jules Verne, also known as The Clipper of the Clouds
  • Master of the World (novel), Verne's sequel novel, starring the same character
• Robur (truck), brand used for some IFA trucks
• Robur Carolinum (Latin for Charles' oak), a constellation created by the English astronomer Sir Edmond Halley in 1679

Związek Kopalń Górnośląskich Robur (English: Association of Upper Silesian Coal Mines Robur), was a wholesale coal merchant, which cooperated with a number of mines located in Second Polish Republic’s Silesian Voivodeship. Its main office was located in Katowice.

Robur was founded in 1921 by a company named Emanuel Friedländer Co. Since 1928, it was turned into a limited partnership, which belonged to three companies: Alfred Falter, M. A. Goldschmidt-Rotschild and F. Oppenheimer. Robur cooperated with several Upper Silesian coal mines and coal associations, such as:

• Rybnik Coal Mining Consortium,
• Charlotte Coal Mining Consortium from Rybnik,
• mines and steelworks of the Donnersmarck family,
• East Upper Silesian Works of Count Nicolas von Ballestrem (since 1931: Ruda Slaska Coal Mining Consortium),
• Godulla S.A. from Chebzie,
• Waterloo Coal Mining Consortium from Zaleze,
• Pokoj Steel Mill from Nowy Bytom,
• Wirek S.A. from Wirek.

Robur was the wholesale coal merchant of interbellum Poland. Its managers were very active in international markets. After the German–Polish customs war, the company found new markets in Scandinavia. In 1927, Robur signed and agreement with Polish Ministry of Industry and Commerce, in which it rented for 35 years a wharf in a Baltic Sea port of Gdynia. At the same time, Robur pledged to export 125,000 tons of coal monthly, to fund four cranes for the port, and to purchase six bulk carriers.

In 1932, Robur’s share in Polish coal sales reached 26%, and in export sales - 30%. The company had two general managers, Stanislaw Wachowiak and Jerzy Kramsztyk. Robur ceased to exist in September 1939 (see Invasion of Poland).