What is...

What is hemp?

Hemp is a fast-growing and fully usable organic raw material - one of the many vegetable all-rounders that can be used from the root to the tip of the leaf.

The cultivation of the crop hemp has a long tradition and was forgotten for many years due to the decades-long ban on cultivation. Already in ancient China hemp was known as a medicinal plant and for the production of fibre, oil and food. Gutenberg's Bibles and the United States Constitution, for example, were printed on hemp paper.

The cultivation of cannabis sativa (THC content below 0.2%) only became legal again when it joined the EU in 1995 and what is probably the oldest superfood has experienced a revival since then.

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The history of hemp

Thousands of years ago, hemp was valued as a universal medicinal and useful plant. Even then, people knew about the diversity and value of the hemp plant, which is why it is repeatedly mentioned in history and also linked to technical progress. "Hemp is one of the oldest and most well-known cultivated plants, which deserves the name plant in the world like hardly any other."

Starting from its country of origin in Central Asia, the hemp plant reached Europe and Africa and on to America via the Near East. Already 8000 BC The first historical finds of hemp were dated to BC, the first written records can be found in China around 500 BC. This work from the Sung Dynasty also describes that as early as the 28th century B.C. BC clothes and medicines were made from hemp for the Chinese emperor.

The first ropes made from hemp fibers were also made in China around 2,800 BC. Turned around 140 to 87 BC, the oldest paper in the world is also here. were created from hemp fibers. The oldest European finds come from the Hallstatt period between 800 and 400 BC. The woven fabric made from hemp bast played a particularly important role at the time.

In Europe, hemp came to Sweden via Russia to Lithuania. In the south, the origin was also Central Asia, where the plant came to the Greeks, Romans and Gauls via Asia Minor. The oldest writings about the use of hemp were found in Europe in 800 AD in an economic directive issued by Charlemagne, in which he encouraged farmers to cultivate hemp. In 1390 the first paper mill was opened in Nuremberg, which was in great demand, mainly due to the invention of the printing press. The Bible was once made from flax and hemp fibers. Ship charts, paper money, securities, newspapers and books were made from hemp and flax up until the 19th century. Spanish sailors first brought hemp to America around 1500. Later, in some states of the USA, farmers were even required to grow hemp by law.

Between 1631 and the early 19th century, hemp was accepted currency in much of North America. In 1870, Levi Strauss also made the world's first jeans from hemp, as this material was very durable and tear-resistant. In the US, hemp oil was also sold as a particularly bright lamp oil and as a lubricating oil for aircraft engines.

In the middle of the 19th century, hemp cultivation collapsed. Due to the development of the cotton machine, the processing of cotton fibers became easier, which gradually replaced hemp and flax textiles. Another influencing factor was the invention of chemical pulping of wood to obtain pulp for paper production. In the 1930s, a campaign by the oil, paper and pharmaceutical industries in America caused the hemp plant to decline further.

In 1937, the United States introduced a business tax on hemp dealers and a purchase tax on marijuana purchases, making hemp a priceless commodity. The portrayal of hemp in the media as a disinhibiting and violent drug ultimately brought hemp cultivation to a complete standstill.

How does hemp grow?

The useful plant Cannabis sativa is particularly easy to care for due to its very low climatic requirements. It fits perfectly into the crop rotation, improves the soil structure and is considered to be very robust and resistant, which is why it is also suitable for organic farming.

As a fiber plant, hemp meets ecological and economic criteria and, as a rapidly renewable raw material, has great future prospects.

Flax and hemp are good for agriculture, for regional added value, for the environment and for the production of innovative organic materials for the raw materials transition.

"If, in order to save our planet and reverse the greenhouse effect, we want to do without all fossil fuels and petrochemical products in the future, as well as deforestation for paper and agricultural land, then there is only one plant that can be considered renewable Raw material capable of supplying most of paper, textiles and food, as well as domestic and industrial energy consumption, while reducing pollution, improving soils and purifying our air: it is an old companion who has always done this for has done to us: cannabis, hemp, marijuana.”

Jack Herer, author and American hemp pioneer