Wilhelmshütte near Biedenkopf

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Wilhelmshütte , founded in Dautphe in 1832 as Kilianshütte , was one of the younger steelworks in the Lahn-Dill area and marked the economic upswing during the early industrialization in the Grand Duchy of Hesse . It was transferred to the Hessen-Nassauischer Hüttenverein (HNHV) in the 1890s and became a production site of this group when it was taken over by Buderus in the 1930s. To this day, the name of the Wilhelmshütte industrial estate in the central Hessian municipality of Dautphetal is reminiscent of the company, of which hardly any buildings have survived.

The establishment of the Kilianshütte

The merchant Justus Kilian (1792–1861), who came from Lüdenscheid in Westphalia, applied to the Grand Ducal Hessian Government in Darmstadt in 1831 for a license to “set up an iron smelter or blast furnace, a rod hammer with two fires and a Zain hammer with one fire on the Lahn near Dautphe ". The Grand Ducal Government complied with this request on March 28, 1831, because it had doubts about the economic and fiscal benefits of its previous economic policy, whether it was to run the mining operations - such as the Ludwigshütte - on its own or to lease them to interested parties. Kilianshütte was to become the first privately financed company of its kind in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and initiated the transition from fiscal operations to private companies in the mining sector. Kilian built a second steelworks near Gladenbach under the name Justushütte in the Grand Duchy in 1835/1837, based on the model of the Kilianshütte .

The Kilianshütte was built between 1832 and 1834. It initially consisted of a charcoal-powered blast furnace , which, however, had significant structural defects that had to be eliminated. The steelworks received a second blast furnace in 1837. Both blast furnaces were equipped with a water wheel-driven double cylinder fan to generate the wind energy required for blast furnace operation. The plant also received a cupola furnace and a casting house. The Kilianshütte also had a hammer mill equipped with two fresh fires and two larger and three smaller hammers, which produced around 2,000 ct. Of wrought iron. A wire rolling mill built with the second blast furnace produced so-called small items such as wire, chains or saws. The main production program, however, consisted of cast goods such as ovens, tube, pottery and sanitary castings . In 1850, Kilian began to build a puddling plant in order to increase the productivity of the iron and steel works through this cheaper and more effective fresh process.

Kilianshütte obtained its iron ore from ten of its own mines, four of which were in Hessian and six in Nassau. She received about half of the charcoal she needed from her own charcoal makers and bought the other half from foreign charcoal makers. The production of the two blast furnaces in 1840 was around 28,000 quintals, which was divided into a third (approx. 9,324 ct.) Of pig iron and two thirds (approx . 18,676 ct.) To cast goods . The greater part of the pig iron was processed into bar iron at the smelter itself or at other Hessian factories , the smaller part went to hammer and puddle works outside of Westphalia, Baden, Bavaria or Württemberg.

Justus Kilian got into considerable economic distress during the difficult economic situation of the German iron industry in the 1840s, which was caused in particular by the import of cheaper foreign iron. After the extensive investments for his two smelters, he no longer had sufficient financial means to continue operating them. After his attempt to found a joint-stock company in order to get further capital failed, he turned to the Grand Ducal Hessian government for financial support. The latter recognized his efforts for economic development and the creation of new jobs in the economically backward hinterland , but refused appropriate aid. The Kilians and Justushütte employed around 500 workers directly on the smelter, the hammer mill and the mines or indirectly as a supplier of other raw materials.

Another attempt to gain new capital by founding a stock corporation also failed, and new submissions to the state government were again unsuccessful. The two huts at Kilian had been idle since 1850. The debates in the second and later in the first chamber of the estates linked two further points with the request for financial support for Kilian, namely the promotion of the economically backward "hinterland" and the precarious situation of the iron and steel industry in general through the considerable imports of cheaper English and Belgian iron products. After a detailed and very controversial discussion, the second chamber of the estates postponed a final decision in April 1851 and in several motions called on the state government to negotiate with Kilian about financial alternatives to continue his two smelting works. The first chamber followed this decision of the second chamber in principle in June 1851.

In November / December 1852, both chambers of the estates refused financial support for the resumption of operations at Kilianshütte. The first chamber voted 22-2 in favor and the second chamber 19-16 against a corresponding motion. In the meantime, however, a fundamental change had occurred in the initial situation. After the discussions in the two chambers, which were not very encouraging for him, Justus Kilian had given up hope of state support and sold the Kilians and Justushütte in 1852, which, according to an expert opinion by the owner of the Carlshütte, Friedrich Carl Klein, was between 240,000 and 260,000 guilders belief. The Justushütte went to the Westphalian hut owners Schulz & Wehrenbod from Lünen from the Westfalia ironworks for 52,000 guilders and the Kilianshütte to Count Wilhelm von Reichenbach-Lessonitz (1824–1866) for 92,000 guilders.

The Kilianshütte under Count Wilhelm von Reichenbach-Lessonitz

The new owner, Count Wilhelm von Reichenbach-Lessonitz, changed the name of the hut to Wilhelmshütte according to his first name. Reichbach-Lessonitz saw the steelworks primarily as a capital investment and left the management to the director Eduard Schneegans. A Wilhelmshütte file listed by Schache in 1938 "Operational and budgetary disposition for the Gräfliche von Reichenbach-Lessonitzsche Eisenwerk near Biedenkopf for the operating year 1854/55" lists the purchase price of 92,000 guilders as well as the items 30,000 guilders "construction capital" and 65,000 guilders "Operating Capital". This list shows that Reichenbach-Lessonitz was prepared to invest considerable sums in the new plant in order to make it competitive again.

The two old blast furnaces built by Kilian were replaced by a new, larger one and the construction of a puddling and rolling mill, which Kilian had already started, was completed. The blast furnace went into operation in 1854 with a mixture of coke and charcoal as an additive, and the puddling plant was already using hard coal as heating material. In 1857/58 the Wilhelmshütte consisted of a blast furnace with two fans each for water and steam drive, a sheet metal rolling mill with two puddle furnaces, a welding furnace and a sheet metal furnace. A steam hammer took over the stretching of the dolls .

The production of cast goods moved more and more into focus at the Wilhelmshütte in the following years. The sheet rolling mill was shut down in the 1870s for economic reasons, as the iron ore extracted from the company's own mines did not provide good pig iron for sheet metal production. The puddling and rolling operation, on the other hand, was continued using coke puddling iron until the puddling mill was also given up with the spread of mild steel production in the Bessemer works. Wilhelmshütte shifted production to the manufacture of cast goods for ovens and stoves. Like the other smelting works in the Lahn-Dill area, it finally gave up its own pig iron production and shut down the charcoal blast furnace in 1886. When the Obere Lahntalbahn from Marburg to Gießen was completed and coal coke could now be transported cheaply from the Ruhr area , Wilhelmshütte put two cupola furnaces into operation for casting in the second melt and obtained the necessary pig iron from external smelting works.

After giving up its own pig iron production, Wilhelmshütte sold its mines in the Dill area in 1888 for 96,000 marks to the Hessen-Nassau Hüttenverein , which with this acquisition significantly expanded its mine holdings in the Scheldt Forest . The most profitable mine was the “Neue Lust” in the Nanzenbach district and replaced the HNHV's “Unverhofft Glück” mine. The “Neue Lust” mine soon became one of the most important mining operations of the Hüttenverein.

The sale of the Wilhelmshütte to the Hessen-Nassau Hüttenverein

After the death of Count Wilhelm von Reichenbach-Lessonitz in 1866, the Wilhelmshütte was passed on to his heirs, Countess Amélie von Reichenbach-Lessonitz (1838–1912) and Princess Pauline von Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg (1858–1925). The iron and steel works operated under the name Verwaltung der Wilhelmshütte and was still under the management of Edgar Schneegans. The two heiresses finally intended to sell the Wilhelmshütte in the 1890s. The Hessen-Nassau Hüttenverein used this opportunity to purchase another hut.

Gustav Jung from the Amalienhütte finally succeeded, after lengthy negotiations, in December 1897 in buying the ironworks with its buildings and properties, machines and factory equipment for 265,000 marks. In addition, the HNHV had to pay for the raw materials, semi-finished and finished products stored in the hut. The acquisition of Wilhelmshütte was not so much to expand its foundry production, but rather to beat a potential competitor out of the field or to prevent the acquisition by another competitor.

At the transition to the HNHV, the ironworks consisted of several foundry buildings with two cupola furnaces, model and locksmith workshops, an old, vacant hammer and rolling mill building, cleaning shops, magazines and residential buildings. With the acquisition of Wilhelmshütte, the Hüttenverein was faced with the problem that its previous products, such as stoves and ovens in particular, overlapped with the production lines of its other locations. He therefore started manufacturing accessories for the more and more widespread central heating systems in his new factory, while gradually relocating stove and oven production to Neuhütte . The Wilhelmshütte received a new, large casting hall, which has been used for radiator production in particular since 1902. This production line should later become the main product at Wilhelmshütte.

In a further step in 1905, Wilhelmshütte consequently started the production of boilers for central heating systems. These were initially only manufactured at this plant, then from 1908 also at the Neuhütte and finally from 1913 only at the Wilhelmshütte. The construction of the radiator foundry required further structural changes. The old hammer and rolling mill buildings were demolished or used for other purposes. Wilhelmshütte switched the energy generation to a modern turbine system, which supplied the plant with light and power via a dynamo machine and accumulators . A new stationary steam engine replaced the old locomobile as an additional source of energy. The Jung family also built a workers' welfare building with central heating on the Wilhelmshütte in 1909 to accommodate the increasing number of external workers.

The Wilhelmshütte developed into the most important iron and steel works of the HNHV. After the completion of the railway line from Marburg to Laasphe, the five foundries of the HNHV cooperated with Burger Eisenwerke, also owned by the Jung family .

The transfer of Wilhelmshütte to the Buderus Group

During the First World War , the Wilhelmshütte was involved in the production of armaments. After the end of the war, Wilhelmshütte, like the other HNHV steelworks, was subject to the turbulent economic conditions in the Weimar Republic . The Hessen-Nassauische Hüttenverein has suffered considerably from a lack of equity since the end of the First World War. He tried to acquire new financial resources for the company by issuing bonds from the private bank Pfeiffer from Kassel, which is family-related. After the bank ran into severe financial difficulties as a result of the global economic crisis of 1929 and was taken over by Deutsche Bank , the Hessen-Nassauische Hüttenverein lost one of its most important financiers. When two big banks also demanded their loans back, the HNHV was facing financial collapse. In 1933 he had to work with Buderus , whose main shareholders a. a. Deutsche Bank also counted, initially forming an interest group and finally, in 1935, with Wilhelmshütte, it was completely transferred to the Buderus Group.

Wilhelmshütte remained an important location for the Buderus Group until the 1960s. When the company completely realigned its corporate strategy in the 1970s and abandoned traditional production divisions, Wilhelmshütte was closed in 1974, as were other locations of the former Hessen-Nassau Hüttenverein.

The Wilhelmshütte today

Overview of Friedensdorf, Dautphe, Wilhelmshütte and Wolfgruben (2006)
Entrance sign for Wilhelmshütte

After the closure of the Wilhelmshütte, the company premises remained unused for many years until the large community of Dautphetal, which was established on July 1, 1974, succeeded in relocating the Elkamet company with a branch to parts of the premises in the early 1990s . Elkamet has been producing nylon tanks for fuel and hydraulic oil for construction machinery and motorcycles there since 1998. Furthermore, today there are craft and small industrial companies on the remaining area.

The industrial area between the districts of Dautphe and Wolfsgruben continues to bear the name Wilhelmshütte . Hardly any building stock has been preserved from the extensive facilities of the Wilhelmshütte. Most of the older buildings were demolished in the course of the conversion and new use, so that today only a few evidence of its industrial history can be seen from this important location of the Hessen-Nassau Hüttenverein.

Web links

literature

  • Fessner, Michael: The greens. An entrepreneurial family in Hessen-Nassau , Kiel 2013.
  • Ferger, Michael: Blast furnaces on the Lahn, Dill and in Upper Hesse. From forest forge to global player , Petersberg 2018.
  • Mischler, Peter: The German iron and steel industry from the point of view of the state economy . With use of official sources. First volume, Stuttgart / Tübingen 1852.
  • Reinhardt, Rudolf: Structural change in the iron industry of the Lahn-Dill area 1840-1914. From iron production to pure iron processing in foundries , Diss. Frankfurt a. M. 1999 ( https://d-nb.info/958701946/34 ).
  • Schache, Georg: The Hessen-Nassauische Hüttenverein, GmbH, Steinbrücken, later Biedenkopf-Ludwigshütte , in: Schubert, Hans / Ferfer, Joseph / Schache, Georg (ed.): From the origin and development of the Buderus'schen Eisenwerke Wetzlar , vol. 2, Munich 1938, pp. 183-338.
  • Taschen, Hans: A brief overview of the mountain, hut and saltworks in the Grand Duchy of Hesse , Darmstadt 1858.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fessner 2013, p. 243.
  2. ↑ Wilhelmshütte on industriekultur-lahn-dill.de, accessed on June 25, 2020.
  3. ↑ Justus Kilian at www.industriekultur-mittelhessen.de
  4. ↑ Schache 1938, pp. 312-313.
  5. ↑ Ferger 2018, pp. 105-108.
  6. ↑ Justushütte at www.industriegeschichte-mittelhessen.de (as of May 2020).
  7. ↑ Negotiations in the fifth meeting of the united committees on July 23, 1838, Eisenhüttenwesen, in: Negotiations of the trade association for the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Darmstadt, II. And III. Quarterly Bulletin, 1838, pp. 59–61.
  8. ↑ Schache 1938, pp. 313-314.
  9. ↑ The Kilian iron stone pits in the Hessian hinterland, in: Second report of the Upper Hessian Society for Nature and Medicine, Gießen 1849, pp. 101–112.
  10. ↑ Negotiations in the fifth meeting of the united committees on July 23, 1838, Eisenhüttenwesen, in: Negotiations of the trade association for the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Darmstadt, II. And III. Quarterly Bulletin, 1838, pp. 59–61. Mischler 1852, pp. 504–505, provides different production values.
  11. ↑ Schache 1938, pp. 314-315.
  12. ^ The twenty-ninth session in the meeting room of the second chamber of the estates. Darmstadt, April 8, 1851, pp. 5–61, in: Negotiations of the second chamber of the estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1851. Extraordinary (fourteenth) Landtag. Logs. Second volume. No. 24-39. 50 ½ sheet, Darmstadt 1851. For details on this discussion see Reinhard 1998, pp. 38–39, p. 46 and Pp. 50-51.
  13. ↑ Supplement No. 61. (to the 28th minutes of May 31, 1851), pp. 1-4, in: Negotiations of the first chamber of the estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1851. Extraordinary (fourteenth) Landtag. Side dishes. First volume (No. 1 to 109). 50 Bogen, Darmstadt 1852. Thirtieth session in the assembly room of the first chamber of the estates. Darmstadt, June 4, 1851, pp. 26–46, in: Negotiations of the first chamber of the estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1851. Extraordinary (fourteenth) Landtag. Logs. First volume (No. 1 to 45) 47 ½ sheets, Darmstadt 1851.
  14. ↑ hatchet. No. 229 e.g. Prot. V. 15 Dec 1852, p. 4, in: Negotiations of the first chamber of the estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1852. Extraordinary (fourteenth) Landtag. Supplements, Volume Three (Nos. 167 to 235). 43 ½ Bogen, Darmstadt 1852. One hundred and thirty-third session in the meeting room of the first chamber of the estates. Darmstadt, December 21, 1852, pp. 21-26, in: Negotiations of the first chamber of the estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in the years 1852. Extraordinary (fourteenth) Landtag. Logs. Fourth volume (nos. 107-134). 47 ¾ Bogen, Darmstadt 1852. One hundred and ninety-sixth session in the meeting room of the second chamber of the estates. Darmstadt, November 9, 1852, pp. 14-29, in: Negotiations of the second chamber of the estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in the years 1851/52. Extraordinary (fourteenth) state parliament. Logs. Twelfth volume. No. 189-210. 63 sheets, Darmstadt 1853.
  15. ^ On Carlshütte see Ferger 2018, pp. 92–97.
  16. ↑ Sheets for trade, technology and industry. New episode. Fourth volume, Leipzig 1870, p. 282. Supplement to the Royal Prussian State Gazette. Friday, August 25, 1865, No. 199, in: Königlich Preußischer Staats-Anzeiger 1865, p. 2725.
  17. ^ Reichenbach-Lessonitz, Wilhelm Graf von , in: Hessische Biographie (as of May 8, 2020).
  18. ↑ Reinhardt 1999, p. 130.
  19. ↑ Taschen 1858, pp. 22-23.
  20. ↑ For detailed production on the Wilhelmshütte in the years 1861 to 1863, see the annual report of the Grand Ducal Chamber of Commerce in Offenbach for the year 1863, Offenbach am Main 1864, p. 42. Ferger 2018, p. 123.
  21. ↑ Reinhardt 1999, p. 130.
  22. ↑ Schache 1938, p. 319.
  23. ↑ Schache 1938, pp. 318-319.
  24. ↑ Schache 1938, p. 319. Ferfer 2018, p. 123.
  25. ↑ Schache 1938, p. 331.
  26. ↑ Schache 1938, p. 312.
  27. ↑ Fessner 2013, pp. 243–244.
  28. ↑ Ferger 2018, p. 124.
  29. ↑ Schache 1938, pp. 191–199.
  30. ↑ Unfortunately, insufficient research results are available on the history of Wilhelmshütte in the Buderus Group. Only Hans Pohl: Buderus 1932–1995, Wetzlar 2001, in his treatise as the third volume on the history of the Buderus Group, only goes into general terms about Wilhelmshütte as part of the overall development of the company.
  31. ↑ History of Elkamet on www.elkamet.com (as of June 2020).
  32. ↑ Ferger 2018, p. 125.

Coordinates: 50 ° 52 ′ 2.6 ″  N , 8 ° 33 ′ 3.4 ″  E