UTOK, bivša Tovarna usnja Kamnik
Mesto Kamnik je imelo že v srednjem veku dobro strateško pozicijo, saj je bila čezenj speljana davna cesta in trgovska pot iz Štajerske na Gorenjsko vse do Italije. V mestu so se začele razvijati najrazličnejše obrti, vodilno mesto pa je imelo prav gotovo usnjarstvo. Že v tistem času so usnjarji prodajali svoje izdelke tudi v Benečijo in Furlanijo. Začetki tovarne Utok segajo že v leto 1805, kole imel na sedanjem mestu usnjarno Jakob Umšlaker, priznani usnjar v Kamniku. Čez leta je tovarna zamenjala veliko lastnikov, vse dokler je ni leta 1924 kupil mladi usnjarski tehnik iz Šmartna pri Litiji Tone Knaflič.
S Knafličevim prevzemom vodilnega mesta se je začela gradnja temeljnega kamna bodoče velike usnjarne. Takrat je imela usnjarna nekaj strojev, pogon pa je bil na vodno kolo, ki ga je poganjala Mlinščica. Vse delavnice niso bile strnjene na enem mestu, temveč sta bili lužilnica in strojnica na sedanjem tovarniškem zemljišču, izdelovalnica pa na Šutni, kjer je bilo tudi stanovanje lastnikov. Obrtna dejavnost je rasla vsako leto in prešla v tovarniški obrat, zato je Knaflič kmalu po tem kupil nove stroje, pogon na vodo pa je zamenjal s parnim pogonom.
V letu 1933 je tovarna izvozila pretežni del celotne proizvodnje svinjskega usnja v Ameriko, Francijo, Švico, Nemčijo, Avstrijo, Švedsko, Belgijo, Avstrijo in Italijo. Zaradi uspešnega obratovanja je odkupil precej zemljišča, obnovil stare objekte in dal zgraditi še nekaj novih, ki so bili končani do leta 1938.
Prihod druge svetovne vojne podjetja na začetku še ni opustošil, saj je še ves čas izdelovalo svinjsko usnje. Proizvodnja je bila s časoma z zavednim delavstvom delno sabotirana. Veliko delavcev je odšlo v partizane ali pa so sodelovali pri narodnoosvobodilnem pokretu. Mnogi od njih so življenja žrtvovali za domovino in se tako nikoli več vrnili v tovarno. V spomin na padle talce so kasneje postavili spomenik, ki je delo kiparja Borisa Kalina.
Konec vojne leta 1945 je prinesel novo obdobje tudi za tovarno usnja, ki je bila nacionalizirana in je s tem iz zasebnega usnjarskega obrata Toneta Knafliča prerasla v ogromen tovarniški obrat z veliko slavo. Lastnik Tone Knaflič je tovarno vodil še dobro leto po osvoboditvi, nato pa jo je zaradi novih družbeno-socialističnih odnosov poklonil državi. Podjetje je takoj opustilo stari naziv "Tovarna usnja Tone Knaflič" in se preimenovalo v "Tovarna usnja Kamnik", z okrajšavo "UTOK".
Tovarna je napredovala z naglimi koraki, prvi cilj pa je bil izboljšati kakovost proizvodov in ponovno prodreti na tuja tržišča. Podjetje je pridobilo velik sloves in je bilo po važnosti izvoza uvrščeno v prvo kategorijo usnjarske industrije. Ponovno so začeli z gradnjo novih objektov, s povečanjem proizvodnje pa se je povečalo tudi število delavcev. Takole bilo leta 1949 v tovarni zaposlenih že 170 ljudi, med tem ko jih je bilo ob prevzemu le 120. Z uvedbo socialističnega načina dela in novo uvedbo norm se je proizvodnja dela še zvišala in izvoz je bil razširjen skoraj v vse evropske države. Kmalu so pridobili gradbeno dovoljenje tudi za izgradnjo nove strojnice in lužilnice, ki sta bili končani leta 1954. Tovarna usnja Kamnik je po letu 1971 nudila zaposlitev že 900 ljudem. V sredini sedemdesetih let pa se je pojavila kriza v usnjarski industriji, zato so v Utoku pričeli z izdelovanjem PVC izdelkov, v upanju na izboljšanje stanja pa so odprli še nov obrat za izdelovanje plastične obutve, ki pa na žalost tovarne ni rešil, pač pa jo le še bližje potisnil h koncu.
Po osamosvojitvi je šlo podjetje v stečaj. Stroje so prodali, zgradbe pa čez nekaj let porušili do tal kot domine. Padec dimnika je 25. maja 1998 je simbolično predstavljal konec industrijske dobe mesta Kamnik. Po vojni nacionalizaciji so delavci kratico UTOK poimenovali kot Ukradena Tovarna Očeta Knafliča.
Vir: Zaključno delo: Iz težave se rodi priložnost, Nadja Krašovec, FA - Fakulteta za arhitekturo 2022
Na prostoru nekdanje tovarne je ljubljansko podjetje ZIL inženiring financiralo gradnjo stanovanjske soseske Mali grad, ostal pa je še del neurejenega območja, tako imenovana »Utokova jama«, ki meji na sosesko. Tu so vidni propadajoči ostanki nekdaj mogočnega UTOK-a.
UTOK, former Leather factory Kamnik
Kamnik was already in a good strategic position in the Middle Ages, as it was the route of an ancient road and trade route from Styria to Upper Carniola and as far as Italy. A wide variety of crafts began to develop in the town, and leatherworking was certainly the leading industry. Already at that time, leatherworkers were also selling their products to Veneto and Friuli. The Utok factory dates back to 1805, when Jakob Umšlaker, a renowned leather manufacturer in Kamnik, had a leather factory on the current site. Over the years, the factory changed many owners until it was bought in 1924 by Tone Knaflič, a young leather technician from Šmartno pri Litiji.
With Knaflič's takeover of the leading position, the laying of the cornerstone of the future large leather factory began. At that time, the leather factory had a few machines and was powered by a water wheel driven by the Mlinščica River. The workshops were not all clustered in one place, but the tannery and the machine shop were on the present factory site, and the manufacturing plant was on Šutna, where the owners' flat was also located. As the craft activity grew year by year and turned into a factory, Knaflič soon afterwards bought new machinery and replaced the water-powered engine with a steam-powered engine.
In 1933, the factory exported the major part of its total pork leather production to America, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, Austria and Italy. As a result of the success of the operation, he bought a considerable amount of land, renovated the old buildings and had some new ones built, which were completed by 1938.
The arrival of the Second World War did not devastate the company at the beginning, as it continued to produce pigskin leather. Over time, production was partly sabotaged by its workforce. Many workers left to join the partisans or took part in the national liberation struggle. Many of them sacrificed their lives for their country and never returned to the factory. A memorial to the fallen workers was later erected, the work of sculptor Boris Kalin.
The end of the war in 1945 also brought a new era for the leather factory, which was nationalised and thus grew from the private leather factory of Tone Knaflič into a huge factory with great fame. The owner, Tone Knaflič, continued to run the factory for a good year after the liberation, but then, in the light of the new socialist relations, he handed it over to the state. The company immediately dropped the old name "Tone Knaflič Leather Factory" and changed its name to "Kamnik Leather Factory", with the abbreviation (in native Slovenian language) "UTOK".
The factory made rapid progress, with the first objective being to improve the quality of its products and to re-enter foreign markets. The company gained high reputation and was ranked in the first category of the leather industry in terms of importance of exports. New buildings were built and the number of workers increased as production increased. By 1949, the factory employed 170 people, compared with only 120 at the time of the takeover. With the introduction of the socialist way of working and the new introduction of norms, the production of labour increased even further and exports were extended to almost all European countries. Building permits were also soon obtained for the construction of a new tannery and a leaching plant, which were completed in 1954. After 1971, the Kamnik leather factory employed 900 people. In the mid-1970s, however, a crisis in the leather industry occurred, and Utok started to manufacture PVC products, and in the hope of improving the situation, a new plant for the manufacture of plastic footwear was opened, which unfortunately did not save the factory, but only pushed it even closer to its demise.
After independence, the company went bankrupt. The machinery was sold and most of the buildings were razed to the ground like dominoes a few years later. The fall of the chimney on 25 May 1998 was symbolic of the end of Kamnik's industrial age. After the war nationalisation, the workers named UTOK as Father Knaflič's Stolen Factory.
On the site of the former factory, the Ljubljana-based company ZIL Engineering financed the construction of the Mali grad residential neighbourhood, but there is still a part of the decrepit area, the so-called "Utok's pit", adjacent to the neighbourhood. Here, the crumbling remains of the once mighty UTOK are still visible.
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Končne koordinate so:
Final coordinates are:
N 46° 13.AED E 14° 36.BCF