Schönau ironworks
The Schönauer Hüttenwerk is a perished operation of the Palatinate iron industry in Schönau (Palatinate) near the French border.
history
The first ironworks in Schönau was built in 1579 and formed the origin of the village. As a result of the Thirty Years' War , the iron smelting went under with the village. In spring 1793, the ironworks was destroyed by French troops, leased by the French state for 20 years in 1797 and rebuilt in 1798. In 1835 Ludwig von Gienanth bought the ironworks, which went bankrupt in 1883.
Use of the geographical conditions
The iron ore came from the area around the village such as B. from the St. Anna tunnel in Nothweiler.
The energy required for smelting was obtained from charcoal , which is produced by charcoalers in the wooded area. The woodcutters and charcoal burners employed at the ironworks lived in Gebüg as an external settlement. When the cheaper hard coal was used for iron smelting in other locations (e.g. in the Saar district ), the smelting works began to decline.
The water of the Saarbach was used in various places to operate hammer mills .
Web links
- Schönauer Hüttenwerk in: Complete commercial, address and company register for the Palatinate, Kgr. Bavaria
- The expensive old age hobby of the greatest Gienanth
- Picture of a fountain of the Schönau ironworks in Rumbach
- History of Schönau
- The forester's house Erzgrube
- Schönau