Adolf Emil Hut

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Construction phase of the hut

The Adolf-Emil-Hütte (AEH) was built from 1909 to 1912 in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, by Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG (GBAG) as a smelting, steel and rolling mill.

It was named after the coal and steel industrialists Emil and Adolph Kirdorf , the heads of GBAG. After a checkered history, the last blast furnace was blown out in 1998. With the exception of the rolling mill, which is still in production, the site is now occupied by the urban development project under the name Esch-Belval, which includes some of the historic facilities of the iron and steel works.

history

Soon after the merger of Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG and the Aachener Hütten-Aktien-Verein (AHAV) Rothe Erde in 1907, the idea of ​​building a new integrated steelworks in the Luxembourg-Lorraine Minette area came up. The AHVA had owned the so-called "Brasseur-Schmelz" in Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg since 1899 and had a steelworks and several ore mines in Audun-le-Tiche (Deutsch-Oth) in neighboring Lorraine since 1892 . The city of Esch-sur-Alzette sold the GBAG a larger forest area, on which an integrated steel and rolling mill was built between 1909 and 1912. For this purpose, GBAG increased its share capital several times. The former AHAV in Aachen-Rothe Erde, under Adolph Kirdorf and the engineer Fritz Kintzlé, was in charge of the new building project . At the same time, new rolling mills for processing the crude steel were built in Aachen. The coal supply was ensured by the GBAG collieries in the Ruhr area. The AEH's first six (planned eight) blast furnaces were put into operation between October 1911 and July 1912. After the First World War and the dissolution of the German-Luxembourg customs union, GBAG was forced to sell the hut to ARBED, which was founded in 1911 . The Aachen factories also had to be shut down, and these losses caused GBAG to run into difficulties that forced it into mergers with other companies. The former Adolf-Emil-Hütte, now trading as “Terres Rouges”, remained in operation; in the 1960s and 70s the six blast furnaces were replaced by three larger ones, which were gradually shut down in the 1990s. The remaining parts of the smelter's operation are now part of ArcelorMittal .

description

The Adolf-Emil-Hütte extends northwest of Esch-sur-Alzette on what was originally about 200 hectares. The layout of the plant strictly follows the production process. From the west, the ore bunkers, the blast furnaces arranged in a row, the steelworks and the extensive rolling mills follow one another. An extensive rail network surrounds and connects the plant. A representative administration building with social and laboratory buildings in front was erected for the technical plant management south of the rolling mill. The actual central administration for all three smelting works, on the other hand, arose at the "Brasseur-Schmelz" or "Aachener Hütte": administration building, casino (today a music conservatory) and staff houses. In front of the main entrance of the plant on the east side, double villas for senior engineers were built, as well as two workers' settlements in the style of the garden suburb in Esch-sur-Alzette. With the exception of the technical plant management, all of the buildings mentioned were designed by the German architect Paul Tafel , as well as the blast furnace operations office, which is now the headquarters of the Agora development agency. Tafel also created factory and social buildings for the neighboring hut in Audun-le-Tiche .

Decommissioning and partial maintenance

In connection with the closure of the blast furnaces and steelworks, it was decided to keep two blast furnaces (see: Belval blast furnaces ), the blower hall and some smaller buildings as industrial monuments and to integrate them into the urban development project Esch-Belval. The "Fonds Belval" was entrusted with the conservation and use of the blast furnaces and the establishment of a center for Luxembourg industrial culture. Above all, the “Amicale des Haut-Fournaux” (Friends of Blast Furnaces) is committed to researching the historic Adolf-Emil hut and preserving the industrial monuments.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ H. Becker: Aachener Hütten-Aktien-Verein Rothe Erde near Aachen (Festschrift) , Aachen 1907
  2. Walter Buschmann , website of the "Rheinische industrialkultur" http://www.rheinische-industriekultur.de/objekte/xLuxemburg_Belval/Belval.html
  3. "Agora" website http://www.belval.lu/
  4. ^ Website of the "Fonds Belval" archive link ( Memento from January 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  5. Website of the “Amicale” Archived copy ( memento of the original from November 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / heichiewen.lu

literature

  • The Adolf Emil Hut in Esch. In: Stahl und Eisen , 33rd year 1913, issue 18 (from May 1, 1913), pp. 713–745.
  • Max Zilligen: The blast furnace system of Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-A.-G. in Esch and Deutschroth with special consideration of the new plants. In: Stahl und Eisen , 34th year 1914, issue ...
  • Paul Thomes (Ed.): Raw material base and sales market. The heavy industry of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Aachen area. (= Aachen Studies on Economic and Social History , Volume 2.) Shaker, Aachen 2005.

Coordinates: 49 ° 30 ′ 3 "  N , 5 ° 57 ′ 21.4"  E