The Ilseder Hütte is a former

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...

in Ilsede ( district of Peine) in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, Germany

History

Funded by the bank Ephraim Meyer & Sohn. Carl Hostmann founded an Ironworks based on supposed both coal- and ore

fields Fields may refer to: Music *Fields (band), an indie rock band formed in 2006 * Fields (progressive rock band), a progressive rock band formed in 1971 * ''Fields'' (album), an LP by Swedish-based indie rock band Junip (2010) * "Fields", a song by ...

in this area. Though there were then found no sufficient coal fields, the company, named "Bergbau und Hüttengesellschaft zu Peine" was established in 1853. This company ended in

insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...

during an economical crisis in 1858. Under Fritz Hurtzig and Carl Haarmann on September 6, 1858 the "Aktiengesellschaft Ilseder Hütte" was taking over the

asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...

s, and in 1861 the production started. Despite the site's unfavorable geographical situation, the factory prospered and rapidly expanded its business. In the era of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, the company became a major player in Germany's coal and steel industry. In 1872 a

rolling mill In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simi ...

was added and in 1879 a third

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a ...

started work. In 1928 the Ilseder Hütte took a 10 billion US-$ loan from the

National City Bank of New York Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

. In 1929 the opening of the

Mittelland Canal The Mittelland Canal, also known as the Midland Canal, (, ) is a major canal in central Germany. It forms an important link in the waterway network of the country, providing the principal east-west inland waterway connection. Its significanc ...

reduced the transport's costs.

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

caused no damage and the company expanded up to 1970s

economic crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and ma ...

Mergers

In 1970 the company merged with the

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

Salzgitter AG Salzgitter AG is a German company, one of the largest steel producers in Europe with an annual output of around seven million tonnes. With over 100 subsidiaries and associated companies, the Group is structured in four business units – Stee ...

. The ore mining ended in 1978 and in 1983 the last blast furnace was shut down. In 1989 the company became part of

Preussag TUI AG ( trading as TUI Group) is a German multinational leisure, travel and tourism company; it is the largest such company in the world. TUI is an acronym for ''Touristik Union International'' ("Tourism Union International"). TUI AG was known ...

The Preussag, at this time was an industrial

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

that changed later on its business field to tourism Preussag stopped in 1995 the remaining productive parts such as

coking plant A coking factory or a coking plant is where coke and manufactured gas are synthesized from coal using a dry distillation process. The volatile components of the pyrolyzed coal, released by heating to a temperature of between 900°C and 1,400&nb ...

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

and

by-product A by-product or byproduct is a secondary product derived from a production process, manufacturing process or chemical reaction; it is not the primary product or service being produced. A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be cons ...

s. The area became an

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

. The

blowing engine A blowing engine is a large stationary steam engine or internal combustion engine directly coupled to air pumping cylinders. They deliver a very large quantity of air at a pressure lower than an air compressor, but greater than a centrifugal f ...

building is in use for various events whereas the

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

production building was torn down in spring 2010. Ilseder Hütte Gebläsehalle Ljungströmturbine.jpg, Former blowing engine building of ''Ilseder Hütte'', in front a

Ljungström turbine The Ljungström turbine (''Ljungströmturbinen'') is a steam turbine. It is also known as the STAL turbine, from the company name STAL (). The technology has had numerous uses since its conception, from power plants to vehicles as large as the su ...

Gewerbepark Ilseder Hütte rIMG 4699.jpg, Remains of a bridge in industrial park ''Ilseder Hütte'', 2008 Gewerbepark Ilseder Hütte rIMG 4702.jpg, Former steam production building ''Ilseder Hütte'', 2008 Gewerbepark Ilseder Hütte rIMG 4701.jpg, Site near the steam production building of ''Ilseder Hütte'', 2008 Ilseder Hütte 1928.jpg, Gold bond of the Ilseder Hütte, issued 1 August 1928

Literature

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Notes

References

External links