Belval blast furnaces

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Free-standing blast furnace B of the Adolf-Emil-Hütte , closed in 1997
Specially illuminated blast furnaces A and B

The Belval blast furnaces ( lux . : Héichiewen Belval) are located in the former Belval industrial area in the Luxembourg city ​​of Esch-sur-Alzette and were active from 1911 to 1997 and the two preserved blast furnaces A and B have been protected as industrial monuments since 2000 ( national monument).

history

In 1909 the Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG acquired the Escher Bësch or Clair-Chêne urban forest from the city of Esch-sur-Alzette . 39 hectares of forest were cleared for the construction of the Belval ironworks. The plant originally consisted of six blast furnaces, a steel mill and several rolling mills and was considered the most modern plant in Europe at the time. The first two blast furnaces were started up on October 30, 1911. In 1913, the Belval smelter produced around 361,000 tons of steel. An average of 3,000 people worked there every day. From 1919 a group of Luxembourg, Belgian and French citizens founded the Société Métallurgique des Terres-Rouges to take over the works and mines of Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks AG. In 1937, the smelter was taken over by the Luxembourg steel group ARBED ( Aciéries Réunies de Burbach-Eich-Dudelange SA , now ArcelorMittal ) founded in 1911 . In 1965, blast furnace A with a daily capacity of 2300 tons of pig iron was put into operation (construction height 82 meters), in 1970 blast furnace B with a daily capacity of 3000 tons (construction height 90 meters). In 1973, 7,000 workers were employed in Belval. In 1979, blast furnace C with a daily capacity of 4,300 tons was commissioned. Blast furnace C was shut down and sold again in 1995, dismantled in 1996/97 and sent to the Kunming Iron & Steel Group Co Ltd (KISCO) in China. In 1996 the conversion to electric steel ( electric steel furnace) took place and in 1997 blast furnace B, which was the last still active blast furnace in Luxembourg, was shut down. The closure of the blast furnaces in Belval made an area of ​​around 120 hectares available for future urban planning in Esch-sur-Alzette. In 2000 the still existing blast furnaces A and B in Belval were classified as industrial monuments. The Belval development company Agora was founded in 2000 and in 2001 the government decided to build the Cité des Sciences . The Belval Fund was founded in 2002. On July 4, 2014, the inauguration of the renovated blast furnaces and their outdoor facilities took place. The ARBED steel and rolling mill in the eastern part of the site - today ArcelorMittal Esch-Belval - is still active. A new residential area is developing on the remaining area and will accommodate a large number of companies as well as a location for the University of Luxembourg (Cité des Sciences, de la Recherche et de l'Innovation).

The Amicale des Hauts Fourneaux PAB Association of Blast Furnaces is committed to preserving contemporary witnesses of industrial culture .

location

The Belval area extends over a length of about two kilometers from Beles in the direction of Raemerich and over a width of about 800 m from Escher Strasse in Beles in the direction of Belval Usines. The mines and smelting works are closed except for the rolling mill, which is still producing today.

literature

  • Fernand Tapella: La fin des hauts fourneaux au Luxembourg . magazine, le périodique du fonds belval No. 2/2015, pp. 30–39.
  • Simone Heiderscheid: As Erennerung un d'Leit vun de Schmelzen , Esch / Belval 2009, Amicale des hauts-fourneaux A et B de ProfilARBED, ISBN 978-2-87996-509-3 .
  • Governorate du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg; Agora SARL: Belval: an urban vision , Esch-sur-Alzette 2008.

Web links

Commons : Blast furnace A and B in Belval  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual proof

  1. ↑ List of the Immeubles et Objets Classes Monuments Nationaux ou inscrits a l'inventaire supplementaire , as of November 30, 2018, p. 26.
  2. ↑ In 1811 there were 39 blast furnaces in Luxembourg, 30 of which were in operation ( Discover Belval , Past - Present - Future, p. 10).
  3. ↑ a b Discover Belval , past - present - future, p. 14.
  4. ↑ a b c Milestones , website of the University of Luxembourg.
  5. ↑ The Belval industrial site is divided into Belval-East and Belval-West. Only the western part is closed.
  6. ↑ Fête des Hauts Fournaux op belval.lu.
  7. ↑ Belval blast furnaces , website: visitluxembourg.com.
  8. ↑ Belval blast furnace , website of the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH).
  9. ↑ Belval .
  10. ↑ Discovering Belval , Past - Present - Future, p. 31 ff.
  11. ^ Blast furnace Belval, Le Fons Belval, 6 avenue des Hauts Fourneaux, 4362 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.

Coordinates: 49 ° 29 '59.6 "  N , 5 ° 57' 12.8"  E