König-Friedrich-August-Hütte
The König-Friedrich-August-Hütte was a Saxon ironworks , which was located in Dölzschen not far from Dresden. The work is important for the Saxon mining and economic history, since 1842, the first with coke -powered blast furnace for iron smelting was put into operation.
Geographical location
The ironworks was in the valley of the Weißeritz directly on the border of the communities Dölzschen and Potschappel . The traffic development took place via the Talstraße coming from Dresden (today State Road 194 to Freital ). The plant also had a rail connection to the Albertsbahn AG line opened in 1855 (today the Dresden – Werdau line ).
history
Early and high industrialization
The König-Friedrich-August-Hütte emerged from a hammer mill . In 1789, the hammer smith Johann Gottfried Ulbricht , who came from Stolpen , bought a plot of land on the "Gitterseer Wiesen". Here he put an iron hammer into operation in 1794. A year later, the hammer master's house was built, which later served as a tavern.
In 1821 two master craftsmen from Dresden acquired the plant. In 1822 they built a cinder, steel and iron bath on the site for the treatment of gout and rheumatism, and in 1826 they also received a concession to entertain and accommodate bathers.
In 1827, the well-known coal and steel entrepreneur Carl Friedrich August Dathe von Burgk acquired the hammer mill. His Baron von Burgker Steinkohlen- und Eisenhüttenwerke , founded in 1819, had seen rapid growth in the years before. By visiting mines and ironworks in Westphalia and Belgium (including Cockerill in Seraing ), Dathe von Burgk recognized at an early stage the possibilities that a combination of coal mines with ironworks offered. As early as 1823, the first attempts to coke the extracted coal began in his plant .
Immediately after the acquisition of the iron hammer Dölzschen, which was now called "Freiherrliches von Burgk'sches Eisenhüttenwerk", renovation and expansion measures began. In 1828 an iron foundry with a cupola went into operation, and in 1835 a machine factory started its work. Between 1835 and 1840, Dathe von Burgk was able to double its iron processing from 5000 to 10,000 quintals.
In 1842, Dathe von Burgk succeeded in commissioning a coke blast furnace in Saxony for the first time. For this he received a state bonus of 25,000 thalers. The coal coke came from the von Burgk coal mine in Plauenschen Grund , the smelted ore was obtained from Berggießhübel . Dathe von Burgk had acquired several magnetic seats here since around 1840 . Only a little later, also in 1842, the first coke blast furnace at the Königin-Marien-Hütte in Cainsdorf near Zwickau was started up.
In March 1846, the Saxon King Friedrich August II. Visited the plant, which on the occasion of this visit was now designated as Freiherr von Burgksche König-Friedrich-August-Hütte .
Since the coke quality of the Burgker coal mine did not allow permanent smelting and the transport of the iron ore from Berggießhübel to Dölzschen was too expensive in the long run, the smelter's blast furnace was shut down again in 1849. The factory was continued as a foundry and mechanical engineering workshop and in the 1860s manufactured, among other things, steam engines and boilers, cast and wrought iron machine parts, water wheels, screw presses and machine tools.
After Dathe von Burgk's death (1872), the plant became the property of Deutsche Bank in 1873 , which ran it as a stock corporation from 1882 . During this time, the plant was modernized, the expansion of the company in 1873 also had to give way to the slag bath set up in 1822. In 1897 large areas of the company premises were flooded by the floods of the Weißeritz.
From the First to the Second World War
During the First World War , the König-Friedrich-August-Hütte was included in the arms production. After the end of the war, the economic decline followed, which in 1922 led to the takeover by the Sächsische Maschinenfabrik Chemnitz, for which the ironworks had previously been an important supplier. In 1928 the hut was spun off from the Saxon machine factory as an independent stock corporation. At the beginning of the 1930s, the machine manufacturing division was given up and operations continued as an iron foundry. In 1935, light metal casting began.
During the Second World War , it was again included in arms production.
From 1942 the employment of forced labor is proven. Up to 110 forced laborers had to work 60½ hours a week. Their gross weekly wages were RM 42, of which RM 21 was deducted for board and lodging and RM 7 East worker tax, so that RM 14 was still available to them. The forced laborers were housed in a barrack on Burgwartstrasse in Freital.
Soviet occupation zone and German Democratic Republic
Re-establishment of the foundry
On May 14, 1945 the company was placed under the control of the Red Army. The supervisory board members Hermann Hamel, Carl Graup and Richard Lieberknecht went to the western occupation zones. Operations resumed on May 14, 1945, but not with foundry products. Four hectares of arable land belonging to the company were planted with potatoes, grain and vegetables. The Red Army handed the operation over to the state administration of Saxony as a trustee. Cast iron production started again on June 20, 1945. The dismantling of the company began at the end of July 1945. However, so much material was retained that a 20 m high cupola could be built east of Tharandter Strasse. The first iron flow took place on December 19, 1945; it was used to make pots and pans for the household. At that time the company had 85 employees. The furnace was opened in the presence of the Vice Presidents of the State Administration of Saxony, Kurt Fischer and Fritz Selbmann, and the Lord Mayor Hennig of the city of Freital. On this day the hut was given the new name Eisenhammer in Plauenschen Grund.
In 1945 and 1946 the plant was assigned to the town of Freital, which was founded 25 years ago and on the border of which it is located. By the referendum of June 30, 1946, the company was transferred to public ownership. From October 2nd to October 13th, 1946, the company held the “Freitaler Wirtschaftsschau” in one of its halls. At the end of 1946 the company had 340 employees.
From 1947 Gottfried Bammes , who later became an anatomist, painted scenes from everyday business life . In March 1947, the plant took part in the Leipzig spring fair. In 1949, factory director Fritz Naumann began developing the slag sand molding process. Cupola slag should replace the missing cement sand. On July 7, 1950, the first casting was made using this molding process. Naumann received the National Prize III for his invention. Class.
Permanent mold casting
In 1952, trials began with the production of permanent mold casting. The first molds were open bulk molds that were manufactured by innovators in-house. In 1953 and 1954, light metal casting was outsourced and mechanical engineering was discontinued. Facilities for the production of chill gray cast iron were installed in the rooms that were freed up. The iron was transported in an electric cart from the cupola furnace east of Tharandter Strasse to the molds west of Tharandter Strasse. In 1955, 695 workers produced 9,051 t of gray cast iron. Each production worker produced 17.6 tons of gray cast iron.
In 1956 a development center for permanent mold casting was set up. It dealt with applied research and basic research in gravity die casting technology, and with market and demand research. In 1958, round castings, coupling parts and grinding media for cement mills were manufactured on self-made toggle lever machines and the first hydraulic casting machines. In the same year, a flood in the neighboring Weißeritz shut down operations from July 5th to 9th and caused damage of 1.3 million marks. In 1959 and 1960 the production program was reduced. In 1959 the company began to cast brake drums for the Trabant P 50 car on a self-made casting carousel and to machine them ready for installation . The plant later also produced the brake drums for the Trabant 601 car . After the Wall was built in August 1961, no special pig iron of DKC quality was supplied from West Germany. The iron hammer mill was able to deliver the first 200 t of this quality on September 2, 1961.
In 1963 500 workers were able to produce 20,000 t of gray cast iron. As a result of the further development of the chill casting process, cylinder liners could be statically cast in the chill mold for the first time in the same year. They had far better properties than the bushings made by sand casting or centrifugal casting. There were 115,000 cylinder liners for the tractor Zetor into Czechoslovakia delivered; they were the first export after 1945. The factory registered the edko trademark for these cylinder liners, which was the abbreviation for Eisenhammer Dresden chill casting. The acronym was later used for other products.
In 1964 four hot blast cupolas were built east of Tharandter Strasse, which were demolished in 2019. VEB Eisenhammer Dresden became the lead company of the chill cast iron product group, which included the Mölkau division of VEB Gießereeanlagen Leipzig, VEB Vereinigte Gießereien Aue, VEB Pressenwerk Bad Salzungen, VEB Stahl- und Hartgußwerk Bösdorf and the company Gelbrich and Ullmann in Netzschkau. The product group work served to convey mutual experiences. After five years, the production-related product group was replaced by a range-related product group. The Red Star Brigade was the first to receive the title of Collective of Socialist Work. In 1968, a new light metal building was built east of Tharandter Strasse in place of the old factory halls with shed roofs. In the same year, studies began for a foundry system for brake drums for the IFA W50 truck . On January 1, 1969, VEB Radeberger Eisengießerei und Formenbau was incorporated into Eisenhammer. In this factory, cast parts for car construction were produced. In 1969, an electrically powered casting carousel was developed with the Yugoslav company Metalna Maribor. Since no manufacturer wanted to build this casting carousel, the factory built nine casting carousels on its own, four of which went into operation on August 4, 1969 and the remaining five on October 7, 1969. The head of the state planning commission, Gerhard Schürer, was present when the production section was put into operation . The cast brake drums were mechanically processed on Soviet multi-spindle lathes.
In 1970 the VEB Metallgußkombinat Leipzig was formed, which was subordinate to the VVB foundries. The headquarters of the combine was VEB Metallgußwerk Leipzig. The combine also owned VEB Druckguß Heidenau, Metallgußwerk Dresden, Druckguß- und Kolbenwerke Harzgerode and the precision casting works Lobenstein. The former mansion of the König-Friedrich-August-Hütte, the Hüttenschänke, has been reconstructed. The year 1970 was difficult for the iron hammer mill because the demand of the economy for cast iron had skyrocketed. Therefore, on April 4, 1971, two-shift operation was started in the mold foundry. In February 1972, three induction melting furnaces were put into operation, and a charging station east of Tharandter Strasse was mechanized. In 1974 seven model making companies and one light metal foundry were assigned to the iron hammer mill. In the same year, three-shift operation was introduced in the mold foundry and metalworking.
Specialization in brake drums
In the years 1975 to 1985 the chill casting process was specialized for vehicle parts. In 1977 the heating and hot water system was converted to Soviet natural gas. Mechanical processing and model making were expanded. On January 1st 1987 the VEB Eisenhammerwerk Dresden-Dölzschen was assigned to the VEB IFA-Kombinat Personenkraftwagen Karl-Marx-Stadt. On January 1st, 1989, VEB Eisenhammerwerk Dresden-Dölzschen and Vereinigte Metallgußwerke Dresden were merged. In July and August 1989 an exhibition "200 years of Eisenhammer in Plauenschen Grund" took place in the Haus der Heimat in Freital.
Personalities of the iron hammer works Dresden-Dölzschen
- Operations directors : Johannes Scholz, Fritz Naumann, Walter Pfeil, Wolfgang Haude, Klaus Dressel
- Party secretaries : Schmidt, Siegfried Seifert
- Works council and BGL chairman : Schulze, Schlichtkruhl
- Combat group commanders : Kurt Kaden, Konrad Stock, Wolfgang Scheinpflug
- Honors : Fritz Naumann, National Prize III. Slag Sand Molding Process Class, 1953; Edwin Bakovsky, Honored Technician of the People for Introduction of the Chill Casting Process, 1965; Siegfried Jähn, Orden Banner der Arbeit, 1969; Otto Berger, hero of work, 1974; Wolfgang Haude, GDR Medal of Merit, 1974; Hans Eichhorn, GDR Merit Medal, 1974.
After the turn
In the course of the turnaround , the Treuhandanstalt assessed the company as "not suitable for renovation" in 1991. The brake drums could no longer be bought, as the IFA W50 truck , the B 1000 van and the Wartburg and Trabant 601 cars were no longer built. In 1993, former employees took over the privatized company as part of a management buyout . The plant traded as EHD Eisenhammer Dresden GmbH & Co. KG and specialized in the manufacture of manhole covers. In 2013 the plant went bankrupt and was dissolved. Some of the space is being re-let under the name industrial park.
The building of the Hammerherrenhaus (Hüttenschänke), which was built in 1795 and is a listed building, has been preserved from the historical structure.
literature
- Johannes Hohlfeld: 150 years of the König-Friedrich-August-Hütte. Freital 1939.
- Saxon State Office for Environment and Geology, Sächsisches Oberbergamt (Hrsg.): The Döhlener basin near Dresden. Geology and mining. (= Mining in Saxony , Volume 12.) Freiberg 2007, ISBN 3-9811421-0-1 . ( Digitized version )
- Wilhelm Salewski: Central German iron works in olden times. Galtgarben-Verlag, Holzminden 1965.
- Karl Söhnel: The valley of work. In: Mitteilungen des Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz , 16th year 1927, issue 3–6, pp. 178–200.
- VEB Eisenhammerwerk Dresden-Dölzschen (ed.): 200 years of Eisenhammer in Plauenschen Grund. Freital 1989. ( Excerpt with a short chronicle ( memento from February 17, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ))
- VEB Eisenhammerwerk Dresden-Dölzschen (ed.): We and our work. Dresden 1974
Individual evidence
- ^ VEB Eisenhammerwerk Dresden-Dölzschen (Ed.): We and our work. Dresden 1974, p. 27 f.
- ^ VEB Eisenhammerwerk Dresden-Dölzschen (ed.): 200 years of iron hammer in Plauenschen Grund. Freital 1989, p. 22.
- ^ VEB Eisenhammerwerk Dresden-Dölzschen (Ed.): We and our work. Dresden 1974, pp. 31-80.
- ^ VEB Eisenhammerwerk Dresden-Dölzschen (ed.): 200 years of iron hammer in Plauenschen Grund. Freital 1989, p. 29.
Coordinates: 51 ° 0 ′ 59.5 ″ N , 13 ° 40 ′ 18.5 ″ E