When the Malaucene paper mill opened in 1545 in Provence, Henri VIII ruled England, the Ming dynasty held sway in China and Spanish conquistadors had just founded Mexico City.
One of Europe's oldest factories still to be at work, the mill was built by 16th-century craftsmen in the sun-drenched Vaucluse region of southern France and has been at the heart of village life even since.
All that will end come September, when the factory shuts down, the latest victim of the economic crisis that is forcing plants and businesses to fold across Europe.
"It's a historic monument in our village," said Mayor Dominique Bodon. "Soon, we will be living in a ghost town."
After racking up some €21 million (Dh104m) in losses over the past four years, Malaucene's US-owners Schweitzer-Mauduit last month announced plans to shut down the paper mill, which employs 211 people.
"History doesn't help pay the bills when you're dealing with these kinds of losses," said factory director Jean-Marc Pavero.
The mill has produced paper virtually non-stop in Malaucene, a village of 2,750 souls.
Built on a hill next to the village, the factory quickly became renowned for the quality of its paper, produced with the water from the Groseau spring. At the outset, it produced stationary and writing paper, mostly for books, before switching to tobacco products.
Run by a string of wealthy families, the factory changed hands several times until Malaucene Mayor Joseph Geoffroy acquired it and kept it running through the First World War, said local historian Olivier Peyre. United States-based Schweitzer-Mauduit has been in charge since 1922, producing cigarette filter paper for tobacco giants Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco.
Union leaders are bristling at Schweitzer-Mauduit's explanation that cutting losses from Malaucene would "benefit earnings in 2010 by more than 0.30 cents [Dh1.1] per share".
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