Nanopool GmbH from Hülzweiler wins major contract for the tomb of Turkey’s founding statesman
Hülzweiler/Ankara. With an unusual commission, Nanopool GmbH from Hülzweiler is causing a stir in the Turkish capital Ankara. The highly specialised family business has been commissioned by the Turkish monument authority to protect the mausoleum of founding statesman Mustafa Kemal Atatürk from dirt and damage using a novel surface-finishing process.
Completed in 1953, fifteen years after Atatürk’s death, the tomb is one of Turkey’s most important structures and drew more than 12.5 million visitors last year alone. The complex includes several museums that also display personal belongings of the „Father of the Turks“, some of which are likewise being treated by Nanopool.
The company from Saarland will finish around 750,000 square metres of surface with an ultra-thin layer of liquid silicon dioxide (quartz sand) developed specifically for the needs of monument conservation. The 260-metre-long so-called Lion Road as well as numerous sculptures and columns of white limestone have already been treated.
„For decades we searched all over the world for suitable products to protect our ancient sites – now we have a solution that meets our very high standards,“ says Halil Eskici, archaeologist at the University of Izmir and general coordinator of the project.
Nanopool has since also finished parts of an excavation site in Central Anatolia. There, 4,000-year-old mud bricks were given a protective layer. „Our goal is to protect as many as possible of the more than 130 archaeological excavations in Turkey in this way,“ explains Eskici. Nanopool Managing Director Sascha Schwindt is convinced that the technology from Saarland will very soon be used in many more places: „With our products we can make a contribution to preserving the world’s most valuable cultural sites.“ Enquiries from Egypt and Italy have already been received, says Schwindt.
