SEKA Paper Museum
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SEKA Kağıt Müzesi | |
Museum's entrance. | |
| Established | November 6, 2016 |
|---|---|
| Location | Kocaeli, Turkey |
| Coordinates | 40°45′40″N 29°54′35″E / 40.76111°N 29.90972°E |
| Owner | Metropolitan Municipality of Kocaeli |
| Website | sekakagitmuzesi |
The SEKA Paper Museum, a.k.a. SEKA Mehmet Ali Kağıtçı Paper Museum (Turkish: SEKA Kağıt Müzesi or SEKA Mehmet Ali Kağıtçı Kağıt Müzesi), is a museum of industrial heritage in Kocaeli district (İzmit), northwestern Turkey. Situated in a former pulp and paper mill, it is dedicated to papermaking in Turkey. The museum was opened in 2016.[1][2]
Construction of the pulp and paper mill began with groundbreaking on August 18, 1934.[3] The mill was built as part of the industrialization efforts during the early years of modern Turkey.[1][2][4] The first domestic paper was produced on April 18, 1936.[4][5] Named Sümerbank İzmit Kağıt ve Karton Fabrikası (Sümerbank İzmit Paper and Cardboard Mill), it officially went into production, with an annual capacity of 12,000 tons, on November 6, 1936.[3][4][6] Turkey's first paper engineer, Mehmet Ali Kağıtçı, played a major role in the foundation of the paper mill.[1][7] On June 21, 1955, it was renamed Türkiye Sellükoz ve Kağıt Fabrikaları (Turkish Cellulose and Paper Mills).[5] In 1997, the state-owned mill was listed for privatization and investment ceased. Paper production came to a halt in 2005, and it was transferred to the Metropolitan Municipality of Kocaeli.[3][4] The word SEKA is a portmanteau of SEllüloz (for cellulose or pulp) and KAğıt (paper).[8]