In 1857, he had installed the first steam engine in the city with a 3 HP strength produced by Friedrich Eberhard's[3] workshops in Berliner Straße.

The growth of the population and the increasing demand for liqueur led Hermann Franke to look for alternate locations where to expand his activities.

To that end, he acquired in 1872, plots at Wallstraße 11 (today's Podwale Street) to build a new factory with a daily production capacity of 3500 litres.

Consequently, Hermann bought in winter 1887, a parcel that used to house a bankrupt saw mill and carpentry workshop belonging to late Heinrich Mautz, located at today's Czartoryskiego street.

Source:[5] In 1901, together with his son Konrad, Hermann Franke founded a steam sawmill factory with timber trade at today's Czartoryskiego street (then Wallstraße).

Thanks to its convenient location in the city, the small scale workshop (30 employees) shifted to a larger business trading beyond the province borders.

This success called for a significant extension of the facility in terms of wood stocking area; to answer this need, a suitable terrain was leased, then purchased, at the third lock on the Brda river, next to the then famous Patzers Establissement (now gone, located at Swiętej Trojcy street 31–33).

At its heyday, as a result of an ever-increasing demand, the company introduced 24h-operations, with day and night shifts for its 65 workers, so as to fully exploit the production capability of the plant.

Hermann Franke shared the management of the wood firm with his son Konrad from 1897 onwards: the trade business reached as far as Berlin, Oldenburg and into Saxony.

In the process of making liqueurs, an important quantity of hot water was being produced and recycled to the benefit of public bathing establishments set up by the Franke's company.