Company stories
Elio Bracco learns German in prison and,
thanks to Merck in Darmstadt, establishes his business in 1927
The outbreak of the Second World War coincides with extremely hard times for Bracco. A lack of supplies during the war hinders production, but the company management is able to guarantee the salaries to the families of employees who have been called to fight. By the end of the conflict, manufacturing has practically come to a standstill. The reorganization, relaunching and expansion of the business will be Fulvio Bracco’s masterpiece. “The most trying period of my life,” as he recalled those times, “was the rebuilding in the immediate aftermath of the war. We had to start from zero and it was unclear who you should turn to: there was no point of reference. There seemed to be a general loss of bearings, but then I found a compass and started down the right path.”
At the beginning of the post-war period, contact with Merck has been nearly cut off, also because Germany is struggling. Thus it becomes a matter of urgency to obtain raw materials and complete the transformation of the company from commercial to industrial by starting to produce active ingredients directly. What must be defended is the company’s moral heritage even more than the material one. Fulvio Bracco does not lose heart and, in 1949, he gives the green light for the new manufacturing facility in Lambrate covering an area of 50 thousand square meters.
Going against his father Elio’s opinion, who affectionately considers him a “mad visionary”, Fulvio Bracco, faced with the need to increase production to meet ever growing demand, decides to build a large integrated factory to replace the first location on Via Renato Fucini, which has become insufficient. He relies on a renowned architect at the time, Giordano Forti, to realize the project. Ten years later in a touching letter, Elio, struck by an article dedicated to the site in the magazine Architecture, will write to his son: “A father’s heart cannot help but rejoice and admire this insightful progress of his son… You will go down in history not only as the creator of your industry, but also as having been a protagonist of modern industrial architecture in Italy.”
Bracco has maintained a special relationship over time with the Lambrate area, and the return of the headquarters to the historic buildings holds great symbolic value as much for the company as for this neighborhood, which has changed greatly due to the city’s growth.
