This was on my bucket list for quite some time, but with our trips to Belgium and Germany, it was hard to find the time to visit the place. Now finally in May, we have made a short trip there with one other location on the way (which didn't work out but I'm not giving up) and it has been very well worth it.
The place has a long tradition in steel processing since the 14th century, steel has been made there. The steelworks have been greatly expanded in the 1880s when the old charcoal-fired blast furnaces were replaced by new coke-fired ones and Siemens-Martin furnaces were added, along with a Bessemer steel plant. Then at the beginning of the 20th century, a hot strip mill was built. Then after WW2, the company was nationalized (as more or less everything) and then expanded quite often until the 1980s, when the blast furnaces were shut down. After that, the Soviet regime fell and the steelworks were privatized (as most things were), then split into two separate companies. The other one is still functioning.
We have missed one hall that had some interesting stuff in it, but from what I know it is still used occasionally.
On with the photos
The place has a long tradition in steel processing since the 14th century, steel has been made there. The steelworks have been greatly expanded in the 1880s when the old charcoal-fired blast furnaces were replaced by new coke-fired ones and Siemens-Martin furnaces were added, along with a Bessemer steel plant. Then at the beginning of the 20th century, a hot strip mill was built. Then after WW2, the company was nationalized (as more or less everything) and then expanded quite often until the 1980s, when the blast furnaces were shut down. After that, the Soviet regime fell and the steelworks were privatized (as most things were), then split into two separate companies. The other one is still functioning.
We have missed one hall that had some interesting stuff in it, but from what I know it is still used occasionally.
On with the photos
