When Charles William Schulze decided to set up his Continental Chocolate factory in Portobello in 1911, he discovered that it would have to be made of reinforced concrete because of the clay soil and the heavy machinery used.
After the outbreak of war, suspicion fell on the extremely strong premised and paranoid locals began to speculate the strengthened floors were really bearing the weight of weapons and that the German workers were really spies.
An inspection of the factory revealed nothing sinister, however, it was discovered that Charles Schulze, despite living in Scotland for 50 years, had never applied for British citizenship and was therefore considered an enemy alien.
The military felt that it was not in the public interest for such a strong building in an important strategic position to be in 'enemy hands' and for the rest of the war, the chocolate factory was used as accommodation for the troops. Although compensated, Charles had to pay rates and taxes.
Tragically, his losses were not just financial. His sons William, a private in the Cameron Highlanders, and Hugh, a lieutenant in the Dorset Regiment, died fighting against the Germans.
After the war, the chocolate factory was converted into a technical college and in the 1990s it was turned into flats. It has a category A listed building status as it is one of the few works using E P Wells, patented system of reinforced concrete.
Inchview Terrace
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