New hut (Schmalkalden)

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New hut (Schmalkalden)
Impact running the water wheel
Illustration to the article Melting furnace (Source: Encyclopédie de Diderot et d'Alembert, volume 3.)
Ironworkers prepare the next racking, on the left the cleaning of the “mass corridors”, on the right the removal of a cooled iron bar using rollers and crowbars.
Sectional drawing of a blast furnace system for continuous operation
Sectional drawing of a blast furnace with details of the shape of the vent opening cd (so-called "chest")
General plan of the museum grounds
The "water art" near the Neue Hütte

The technical museum Neue Hütte in Weidebrunn is a historical building and technical monument of the city of Schmalkalden in Thuringia .

history

Raw material basis

The area of ​​the later rule Schmalkalden has been a center of the iron industry since the High Middle Ages.

location

The "Neue Hütte" technical monument is located on the Neue Hütte 1 property on Gothaer Strasse on the outskirts of Weidebrunn. With the city bus of the municipal transport company Schmalkalden you can comfortably reach the Neue Hütte from the old town 3 km away, alternatively you can also use regular buses with destination Floh-Seligenthal . Hikers and cyclists can use the signposted routes, such as B. use the Mommelstein cycle path . The blast furnace is 328  m above sea level. NHN in the valley floor of the Schmalkalde .

history

Raw material basis

The area of ​​the later rule Schmalkalden has been a center of iron and steel goods production in the Thuringian Forest since the High Middle Ages . Iron ore of high quality, which formed the basis of this iron and steel production, was supplied by the two early modern mining areas on the Mommelstein and on the Stahlberg, between today's places Brotterode and Floh-Seligenthal .

In the Asbacher mountains near Schmalkalden, it was vein deposits in Rotliegend , as well as in Arzberg (= Erzberg) near Steinbach-Hallenberg , which were intensively exploited for centuries. In Brotterode on Seimberg Roteisenstein was and in the enclosure limonite mined . Mining around Asbach, Steinbach and Brotterode was still in full bloom in the 16th and 17th centuries . In addition to iron ore, fluids and barite, which occur in the Truse Valley, were also extracted in considerable quantities. For the processing of the mined ores, water-powered stamping mills and mills were set up to crush the ores mixed with "dead rock". The processed material was brought to the valley using the transport options of the time, where the ores were smelted and processed.

The Happelshütte near Weidebrunn

On the outskirts of Weidebrunn there has been a steel hammer for processing high-quality iron ore from the surrounding iron ore mines in the Schmalkalder and Trusetal areas. In 1669 another blast furnace was built near it, named after the mountain administrator Dr. Happel named "Happelshütte" built. The new furnace was based on the structure of the tried and tested blue furnace type.

“As with the piece furnace, the blue furnace had a closed chest (the chest was called the tapping side). It was walled up with clay at the tapping point and could be broken open with a lance-shaped rod. The shaft, which was still square at the kiln, now had the shape of two truncated pyramids touching each other with their tips, from which the shape of two truncated cones later developed. The metallurgical process in smelting was the same as in piece furnace operation. Although malleable iron was obtained in the blue furnace, it was of such uneven quality that it had to be baked again in the hearth fire. The heating was done in an extinguishing fire, a bricked pit provided with coal fire, which was connected to a fan. "

Constant technical improvements in iron smelting started in England and had led to the construction of the first coke-fired blast furnace near Gleiwitz in the German Reich in 1796 . Unfortunately, no suitable coal seams have been developed in the vicinity of Schmalkalden . The hard coal mined near Schnellbach was exhausted after just a few years, so traditional charcoal firing was retained.

Statistical information on the Schmalkalder mining region (around 1820)

In 1820 there were eleven smelting works, 14 iron and 12 steel hammers working around Schmalkalden and Brotterode, producing 2,500 tons of iron and steel goods annually  . Around 1800 they used around 86,000 and around 1820 still 65,000 solid cubic meters of wood in the form of charcoal and logs. This meant a continued overexploitation of the forests.

In 1835, the year the Neue Hütte was founded, there were 7 ironworks, 27 iron, steel and Zain hammers and 7 wire mills in the Schmalkalden rulership. These supplied the iron-processing guilds, which had already achieved a high degree of specialization. The most important of these were: 130 blacksmiths, 113 awkward and purpose blacksmiths, around 100 nail smiths, 35 cutlers, 15 sword sweepers, 40 file makers, 56 drill and pliers smiths, 6 scissors smiths and 53 solder fitters. The Narrow Kald rifle factory had around 80 employees.

The attempt to establish a nib manufacture failed despite government support due to the strong resistance of the guilds.

The foundation of the Neue Hütte

The "New Hut" built by JW Bleimüller represents the last stage of development of charcoal-based iron smelting in the Schmalkalden area.

“In 1827 the government of Hessen-Kassel issued new trade regulations for the iron and steel industry as well as for the iron and steel trades in the Schmalkalden district. Regardless of the restrictions imposed by the previous guild regulations, the factory production of such articles was now permitted, which up to now could not be produced in sufficient quantity and quality. The manufacturer had to prove to the guild office that he had working capital of 5000 thalers, and he had to employ at least eight workers or set up the number of machines corresponding to their performance. "

The main building of the hut, built in 1835, is a late Classicist half-timbered building that surrounds the central furnace. It replaced the unprofitable and outdated smelters in the area.

“In the metallurgical industry, people switched from the old fresh process to the much more advantageous puddling process. The blast furnace operation of the Neue Hütte am Flöher Berg, which was founded by JW Bleymüller and equipped with cylinder fans, had been going on since 1835. The blast furnace built on the site of the "Happelshütte" reached a height of twelve meters. In the continuous melting process, the smelter delivered 80-100 quintals of pig iron in runs of 8½ quintals each within 24 hours. About 40 quintals of pig iron were extracted from 100 quintals of iron stone. This was the most efficient way of producing iron on a charcoal basis; but at the same time the death sentence was spoken of the outdated courtyards that were still in progress in the district. "

The 1840s

The numerous craftsmen saw the hut as a threat, as all of them were dependent on the supply of charcoal, which was needed continuously and in large quantities in the blast furnace of the new hut. Gradually the raw materials became more expensive, at the same time the customs barriers fell and cheaper goods flooded the former sales areas - by 1870 most craftsmen had to replace their traditional products with new ones. Most found new career prospects in the manufacture of tools, household accessories (e.g. irons) and machine parts.

The situation of the rural population as well as the simple artisans and wage workers in Schmalkalden was depressing at the beginning of the 1840s: a drought had spoiled the harvest, at the same time a wave of price increases in imported food began. Due to two consecutive years of low precipitation, there was not enough impact water available, so that the hammer mills and mills had to stop their production.

“Almost a quarter of the population has been without adequate employment for a year and a half. Crimes against persons and property are rampant in the highest degree of concern, and the judicial and police authorities are no longer powerful enough to set barriers to safeguard these threatening conditions. All prisons are overflowing with wrongdoers and criminals ... "

- Report of the district office of Schmalkalden from the year 1843 to the electoral government in Kassel

During the revolutionary uprising of 1848, the Neue Hütte was occupied on April 10, 1848 by an armed detachment of the government-loyal Stahlberger Miners' Guard , in order to forestall excesses and looting by "insurgents".

The further expansion of the new hut

In 1870, the owner at the time ordered the construction of a second, significantly smaller furnace on the hut property, the remains of which are now next to the main building of the Neue Hütte.

Electricity has been produced from hydropower in the Schmalkalden area since 1896 . Electrical devices and lighting were also installed in the new hut in the following years. The Schmalkalden power station was shut down as early as 1912 for economic reasons. From then on, power was supplied by the newly built Breitungen-Werra power plant . The Neue Hütte facility remained in operation until 1924 and underwent various technical improvements.

After the shutdown

Later owners used the existing mill rights and the existing water wheel to generate electricity ; the main buildings of the hut were used as storage rooms until the Second World War . The new owners started manufacturing cement-based artificial stone after 1945.

On the initiative of Heimatfreunde and monument preservationists, the building complex was designated as an important technical monument in the Suhl district around 1966 and a building renovation plan was drawn up. As a testimony to the pre-industrial iron extraction and processing, the Neue Hütte was placed on the Central Monument List of the GDR and received appropriate recognition. Since the 1970s, tourists have been able to view the building, which has been renovated in sections, and the historic machines that have been procured from the surrounding area. Scientific research and supervision of the technical monument was intensified.

Technology and equipment

In addition to the actual blast furnace, which rises about 12 m above the valley floor, the technical equipment of the plant also included a water-powered cylinder fan, whose imposing mechanical gear train with cast-iron supports and gears, crankshaft and rods already indicates the beginning of the steam engine era. The enormous heat that always lasted several days during the melting process and the flying sparks during tapping could easily set the building, which was built with many wooden components, on fire, so when the building was built, the roof, which was covered with tiles, was provided with numerous closable flaps and windows.

As an auxiliary building, the blast furnace system surrounds storage sheds for charcoal (as fuel), the home of the smelter and various auxiliary buildings and workshops. The original moats and the drainage rose have also been preserved.

Museum conception and use

The restored building complex today offers an impression of the size and technical equipment of an early industrial blast furnace system based on charcoal as a display system. During the restoration, the plant was largely returned to its original condition in 1835, but the blast furnace is no longer intended to be commissioned. In addition to individual tours, action days with lectures and special tours offer further incentives to visit the facility.

meaning

The blast furnace is one of the few preserved historical blast furnaces in the new federal states . Comparable systems are only available at the Schmalzgrube (blast furnace from 1659), Brausenstein (hammer hut with blast furnace from 1693), Peitz (blast furnace from 1809) and Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz (blast furnace from 1820/22).

exhibition

A permanent exhibition on the history of the metal industry in the Schmalkalden region has been under construction since 2009. Many collected exhibits from the handicraft and town history department of the castle museum are also used. The part of the exhibition on development from 1990 onwards has already been completed. This is to be expanded to include the history of VEB Werkzeugkombinat Schmalkalden and its predecessor companies.

The following exhibition themes invite visitors to visit the central blast furnace building and other buildings in 2013:

  • On the history of iron and steel goods production in the Schmalkalden area
  • History of the blast furnace and the technical functional areas
  • For the general development of old smelting technologies with charcoal
  • The Neue Hütte hydropower plant, development and current use

Museum didactics

  • Storage building for charcoal (sacks)

  • The two blast furnaces of the new hut - on the left the much smaller new building - without casing and accessories

  • The nail forge - for demonstrations

  • View into the exhibition rooms

  • Historical machines and their uses

  • Replicated workshop of a drill forge

  • Replicated sales room of a small hardware store with a range of tools from the village of Floh-Seligenthal

The furnace museum New Hut is the Museum Schloss Wilhelmsburg , the visitor mine Finstertal in Asbach and metal craft museum Steinbach-Hallenberg a museum network dedicated to regional history, historical mining and metallurgy in the room Schmalkalden.

Information boards and themed hiking trails connect these stations. To explain the system and the building complex, scale models and plans were made and placed around the former blast furnace. In the exhibition rooms, visitors can view typical metal goods from the last 200 years. Further parts of the collection of various machine tools can be viewed in the courtyard and the outbuildings. Dedicated craftsmen and museum employees produce workpieces during demonstrations on museum days, e.g. B. Production of a wood drill shown on the forge fire.

literature

  • Harry Gerlach : Schmalkalden. 1994, ISBN 3-623-00976-8 .
  • City of Schmalkalden, Festschrift working group (publisher): 1125 years of Schmalkalden. Festschrift. Schmalkalden 1999, ISBN 3-00-004395-0 .
  • JG Wagner: History of the city and rule Schmalkalden. In addition to a brief overview of the history of the former ruled county of Henneberg . Elwert'scher Verlag, Marburg / Leipzig 1849, p. 436 ( digitized from Google Books).
  • Günther Wölfing: History of the Henneberger Land between Grabfeld, Rennsteig and Rhön. An overview. HJ Salier-Verlag “Frankenschwelle”, Hildburghausen 1992, ISBN 3-76180-11-X , pp. 126–127: The time of the bourgeois upheaval… (1815–1871).
  • Wolfgang Schmidt, Wilfried Theile: Monuments of the history of production and transport, part 1, VEB Verlag für Bauwesen, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-345-00312-0 .

Web links

Commons : New Cabin  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Rudolf Harm: The "New Hut" near Schmalkalden and its restoration . In: Monuments in Thuringia . Weimar 1973, p. 61-65 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Rudolf Harm: The new hut near Schmalkalden . Classicist steelworks and a monument to the history of production. In: Valuable objects and collections in the museums of the Suhl district . Meiningen 1988, p. 18-30 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e Jürgen Messerschmidt: History of mining around Trusetal . In: Schmalkalder history sheets . Issue 2, 1995, ISSN  0946-5790 , p. 71-91 .
  4. ↑ Hans-Gert Bachmann: From ore to metal (copper, silver, iron) - the chemical processes in the diagram . Special issue of old mining in Germany. Nikol-Verlag, Hamburg 1993, ISBN 3-933203-35-X , p. 35-40 .
  5. ↑ Norbert Krah: The iron trade and the metal processing industry in Schmalkalden . From the beginning to the present. 2007, ISBN 3-9810525-7-9 .
  6. ↑ Hans Lose: 600 years of iron mining and processing in Schmalkalder from the 14th to the 20th century (dissertation) . In: South Thuringian Research . No. 1 . Meiningen 1965, p. 25-26 .
  7. ↑ a b c d Between Ruhla, Bad Liebenstein and Schmalkalden (= values ​​of our homeland . Volume 48). 1st edition. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1989, p. 96f.
  8. ^ Kaspar Nöding: Statistics, topography and history of the Landgrave and Electoral House of Hesse-Kassel…. Marburg 1836, XVI. The district of Schmalkalden, S. 147 .
  9. ↑ a b c Hans Lose: 600 years of Schmalkalder iron extraction and processing from the 14th to the 20th century (dissertation) . In: South Thuringian Research . No. 1 . Meiningen 1965, p. 70-71 .
  10. ^ Wartburg Foundation (Ed.): Preservation of monuments in Thuringia . Exhibition by the Wartburg Foundation Eisenach and the Institute for the Preservation of Monuments, Erfurt Office (1979–1980). Erfurt 1979, technical monuments, p. 57 .
  11. ↑ A permanent exhibition on iron and steel processing planned in the “Neue Hütte” museum. In: Südthüringer Zeitung (Schmalkalden editorial team) online. February 17, 2009, accessed on April 25, 2013 : “So far, interested parties have been able to find out more about the history of mining and smelting in the old district of Schmalkalden on the area between Weidebrunn and Floh. “Of course it will stay that way,” explains Monika Schwintek, director of the blast furnace museum. "But we also want to work on the regional importance of small hardware and exhibit selected exhibits." The exhibition is planned in two stages. In the first step, iron and steel processing from 1866 to 2010 is examined with a view to the future. "In 1866 the guilds were dissolved and there was freedom of trade", Schwintek explains the epochal turning point. This is followed in a second phase by the presentation of metal processing from the beginnings to 1866. "In this way we can start working on the latest history from 1990 onwards," says Schwintek, describing the advantage of the inverse approach. "

Coordinates: 50 ° 44 ′ 57.4 "  N , 10 ° 28 ′ 13.9"  E