Baildon Hut

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The Baildon Hut in the 19th century
Headquarters

The Baildonhütte was an ironworks in the city of Katowice in the Upper Silesian industrial area . It was founded in 1823 by the Scottish engineer John Baildon as a puddling plant . In the following century and a half it was repeatedly expanded and modernized and at times belonged to the most modern ironworks in Europe. In the course of the crisis in the Polish economy , it experienced a decline since the late 1970s. It has been in bankruptcy since 2001.

history

In 1823 the engineer John Baildon started building a puddle mill on the site of a former hammer mill . At the time, this was the second operation of its kind in Europe. The company received four puddling ovens and a rolling mill . After Baildon's death in 1846, it passed into the possession of Joseph Doms and A. Wenzl. In 1854 the smelter produced 36,000 quintals (= 1,800 tons) of rolled products and employed around 180 workers.

In the period 1863–1864 the hut was out of service until it was bought in 1865 by Carl August Wilhelm Hegenscheidt , who labeled its products with the BHH logo (probably abbreviation of Baildon Hütte Hegenscheidt ). Between 1868 and 1871 the company was expanded to include four rolling mills.

In 1887 the ironworks became the property of the Oberschlesischen Eisenindustrie AG for mining and ironworks in Gliwice . Four years later, three Siemens-Martin furnaces with a capacity of 12 tons were put into operation and in 1894 a fourth furnace with a capacity of 20 tons. At the beginning of the 20th century, the first induction furnace in Upper Silesia was set up, which enabled the production of tool steel, steel alloys and high-speed steel .

After the division of Upper Silesia in 1922, the hut was located on Polish territory. It was transformed into a joint-stock company with German capital Huta Baildon Spółka Akcyjna . In 1926 it was united with the Huta Pokój (German peace hut ) and in 1929 with the Eminence mine. The resulting Huta Pokój - Śląskie Zakłady Górniczo-Hutnicze SA group was the second largest metallurgical group in Poland.

During the Second World War, the Baildonhütte belonged to the Oberschlesische Hüttenwerke AG Gleiwitz and mainly produced armaments, including engines for Junkers. For this purpose, the hut was expanded and forced laborers were used. Until 1942 there was a labor camp for around 2000 forced laborers next to the hut.

After the occupation of Upper Silesia by the Red Army, the smelter resumed its work in April 1945. After the war, the hut was reorganized, modernized and expanded. In 1949 production was 40% above pre-war levels. At the end of 1977, the Baildonit hard metals plant was established. At that time, the plant was producing two hundred different structural steels.

In the late 1970s, production fell significantly as a result of the crisis in the Polish economy. During the system transformation that began after 1989 , the hut was restructured, with individual joint-stock companies being separated from it. This did not stop the hut's decline. It has been in bankruptcy since 2001.

literature

  • Urszula Rzewiczok: Huta Baildon i jej twórca . Muzeum Historii Katowic, Katowice 2009, ISBN 978-83-87727-99-4 .
  • Wojciech Janota: Katowice między wojnami. Miasto i jego sprawy 1922–1939 . Księży Młyn, Łódź 2010, ISBN 978-83-7729-021-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wojciech Janota: Katowice między wojnami. Miasto i jego sprawy 1922-1939 . Księży Młyn, Łódź 2010, ISBN 978-83-7729-021-7 , p. 24 .
  2. ↑ Urszula Rzewiczok: Huta Baildon i jej twórca . Muzeum Historii Katowic, Katowice 2009, ISBN 978-83-8772799-4 , p. 15-16 .
  3. ↑ Urszula Rzewiczok: Huta Baildon i jej twórca . Muzeum Historii Katowic, Katowice 2009, ISBN 978-83-8772799-4 , p. 17 .
  4. ↑ Urszula Rzewiczok: Huta Baildon i jej twórca . Muzeum Historii Katowic, Katowice 2009, ISBN 978-83-8772799-4 , p. 17th f .
  5. ↑ Urszula Rzewiczok: Huta Baildon i jej twórca . Muzeum Historii Katowic, Katowice 2009, ISBN 978-83-8772799-4 , p. 28 .
  6. ↑ Urszula Rzewiczok: Huta Baildon i jej twórca . Muzeum Historii Katowic, Katowice 2009, ISBN 978-83-8772799-4 , p. 40 .
  7. ↑ Urszula Rzewiczok: Huta Baildon i jej twórca . Muzeum Historii Katowic, Katowice 2009, ISBN 978-83-8772799-4 , p. 51-53 .
  8. ↑ Urszula Rzewiczok: Huta Baildon i jej twórca . Muzeum Historii Katowic, Katowice 2009, ISBN 978-83-8772799-4 , p. 53-57 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ In the literature there is also the wrong year 1801. See: Festschrift for the 25th anniversary of the foundation festival of the Kath. Gesellenverein zu Katowice-Załęże , 1935 ( digitized version )

Web links

Commons : Baildonhütte  - collection of images, videos and audio files