Altenberg zinc factory

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Altenberg zinc factory, today: LVR industrial museum

The Altenberg zinc factory in Oberhausen was in operation for around 130 years and specialized in the manufacture of sheet metal for the construction sector. Today the LVR-Industriemuseum Oberhausen and the administration of the LVR-Industriemuseum are located on the former site .

The museum's permanent exhibition has been closed for renovation work since the end of October 2018 and is expected to reopen in 2021.

history

In the middle of the 19th century, investors from France and Belgium discovered the region north of the Ruhr as a promising industrial area. In 1853, the “ Société Anonyme des Mines et Fonderies de Zinc de la Vieille-Montagne ” , founded in 1837 by the Belgian banker and industrialist François-Dominique Mosselman , bought a plot of land on the Lipper Heide in Oberhausen to build a zinc rolling mill there. The location was inexpensive and also well located: both in the immediate vicinity of the Cologne-Minden train station and the Concordia colliery . The Customs Union of the German States had introduced customs barriers to ward off imports, so that the import of Belgian products was no longer worthwhile. Since the company had locations in Mülheim-Eppinghofen , Essen-Borbeck and now also in Oberhausen, it was considered a local company. In 1855 the rolling mill was put into operation. Then the construction of a roasting plant began , which was completed in 1857. However, the beginning of production did not go smoothly. The Société, called "Filimontang" by the people of Oberhausen, initially had difficulties in finding workers or retaining them. Because working in the zinc factory was a real tough job. In order to create incentives, social benefits were introduced: a company health insurance, a disability and pension fund and the construction of workers' housing. As early as 1857, the first workers' houses were built to the west of the factory premises on Familienstraße. Another settlement was built on Gustavstrasse in the 1890s. Still, the company struggled to attract workers. As early as 1884 it was found that 11 tons of gaseous sulfur a day contaminated the area around the zinc factory. The mayor of Oberhausen wanted to put this into perspective:

“ There shouldn't be any question of harassment from industry here, as the residents of Oberhausen only find their existence through this industry and everyone who settles down for the sake of industry also accepts it or has to stay away. "

The exposure of workers to heavy metals was much more severe: around 1900, the majority of them became disabled at the age of 45. The landscape also suffered from the repulsions: “(...) directly behind the hut the land is devoid of vegetation and the ground (quartz sand) has an acidic reaction, at a greater distance (400m-500m to the northeast) even birch trees only eke out a miserable existence and in one At a distance of 1200m-1800m, both the smoke lying on the terrain and the falling rain tastes sour (...) ”.

In 1928, the emission-intensive roasting of zinc in the middle of the city had to be given up. In 1934, at the time of National Socialism , the French name was Germanized: In "Zink Altenberg".

construction

The factory premises behind Oberhausen Central Station include:

  • Rolling hall (1900)
The actual production took place in the rolling hall. The hall was built in a steel frame construction and extends over three quarters of the factory premises: 156 m long, 36 m wide, 9 to 15 m high with a usable area of ​​3500 m². A flywheel was preserved in the western area of ​​the hall, and a melting furnace with an associated casting carousel in the eastern area. Today there is the actual museum with the permanent exhibition "Heavy Industry".
  • Magazine with gatehouse (1900-1949)
Working materials were stored in the magazine. The porter's lodge and social rooms for the workforce were also located there. Today the museum administration is located there.
  • Boiler house (1900)
The boiler house was built from bricks. Steam was generated there to generate energy. Today the children's exhibition area is located there.
  • Electrical center (1900)
Here electricity was generated or later converted with the help of direct current generators. Today the exhibition "Stadtwerk" is located there.
  • Roller bearings (1909)
  • Iron warehouse (1952)
  • Blacksmith's and locksmith's shop (from 1904)
  • Plumbing (1952)
  • Villa (1912)
The two-and-a-half-storey villa is located on a park-like area right next to the entire complex. The factory director lived there and the company health insurance fund and the personnel and wages office were located there. Today the central museum administration of the LVR industrial museum is located there.
  • Production hall (1950/71)
  • Carpentry and warehouse (1951)

The buildings on the site represent an ensemble of very different individual elements: Depending on the year of construction and previous or current function, the buildings differ greatly in size, formal appearance, space and technical state of preservation. The basic architecture of all buildings, however, is relatively uniform: it mainly includes enclosing walls made of brick masonry, saddle roof and steel truss structures.

From the factory to the museum

Entrance area of ​​the museum
Samples of railroad tracks and roll stands (right) for rails in the museum
Blacksmith hammer, 10 m high, 53 t heavy

The closure of the Altenberg zinc factory was foreseeable as early as 1978. Therefore, the Oberhausen city planning office presented a detailed project study on the use of the zinc factory as a cultural center. The city's plan to convert it into a community center had primarily economic reasons, as no investor showed any interest in the site. Nevertheless, the interest of the population was great: as early as 1979, one year after the study, the Initiativkreis Altenberg (IKA) was founded. Various autonomous groups belong to this umbrella organization, such as Terre des Hommes, Freie Musikschule Oberhausen eV or the Arbeitsberatungshilfe. The IKA was also the sponsor of the Altenberg citizens' initiative. "It (the IKA) addresses everyone, to hobby craftsmen without like-minded people, foreigners without a common meeting point, pigeon fanciers without a clubhouse, initiatives without a meeting point, music enthusiasts without a rehearsal room, half and full professionals."

In 1981 the Altenberg zinc factory was finally closed and merged with the sister plant in Essen-Borbeck and moved to the Essen port area. Above all, environmental problems led to the closure of the plant. Accordingly, the city of Oberhausen found heavily contaminated fallow land after purchasing the factory premises. The soil and the buildings showed high levels of lead, cadmium and sulfur compounds. The renovation costs in the end amounted to 13 million DM.

In order to be able to cope with the running costs for the site, it was decided to use part of the facility commercially. In 1983 the idea of ​​an industrial museum of the Rhineland Regional Council (LVR) in the Altenberg zinc factory became known for the first time. When the LVR finally decided in 1984 to set up the headquarters of its industrial museums in Oberhausen, the financial basis was secured, but those responsible had little idea that they would take over a highly contaminated site. The Altenberg community center had to be closed again in 1987. During renovation work in the forge area, it was found that the industrial site was contaminated with contaminated sites. Lead, mercury, zinc dust, cadmium and oil residues were found in the ground and in the masonry. The values ​​were more than 300 times higher than the limit of the sewage sludge ordinance classified as harmless to health . The dust exposure exceeded 25 times the limit values. The IKA immediately cleared the rooms it was using. The conclusion of a study by the Technical University of Aachen was that the entire site had to be extensively renovated. The redevelopment provided for the dedusting and sealing of the entire site, the heavy metals were to be bound by filling the flue gas foxes with burnt lime. The Vieille Montagne could not be held accountable. It was not until 1994 that the renovation and refurbishment measures were successfully completed. In this context, the cost of the industrial museum had increased by 700%. The LVR industrial museum in Oberhausen opened its doors on August 19, 1997.

The permanent exhibition "Heavy Industry" told about the everyday life of men and women who 'mallowed' in the iron and steel industry, about the power of industrial barons and about a region that was transformed from arable land into the largest industrial center in the world in just a few decades. It was closed in October 2018. A special exhibition could still be visited until December 2018. Extensive renovation work is currently taking place. At the same time, a new concept is being discussed for the planned new permanent exhibition.

Web links

Commons : Zinkfabrik Altenberg  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Altenberg zinc factory. LVR-Industriemuseum, accessed on October 16, 2018 .
  2. ↑ LVR industrial museum zinc factory Altenberg. Retrieved November 9, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Schennk, Holger: From the contaminated site to the cultural center in Niederrhein-Magazin 1/2009, p. 8
  4. ^ "From the Belgian 'Vieille Montagne' to the German Altenberg" at the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe
  5. ↑ "An ensemble of factory, director's villa and workers' housing" at the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association
  6. ^ Heavy industry , catalog for the exhibition, Ed. Landschaftsverband Rheinland, Klartext Verlag Essen, 1997. P. 38f.
  7. ^ A b Heavy industry , catalog for the exhibition, Ed. Landschaftsverband Rheinland, Klartext Verlag Essen, 1997. p. 39
  8. ↑ Cf. Altenberg Zink - 80s until today
  9. ↑ Schmenk, Holger p. 10
  10. ↑ Schennk, Holger, From the contaminated site to the cultural center in Niederrhein-Magazin 1/2009, pages 8–12
  11. ↑ Burkhard Zeppenfeld: That will be new! Conceptual considerations for the new exhibition in the Altenberg zinc factory. LVR-Industriemuseum Zinkfabrik Altenberg, December 12, 2018, accessed on April 7, 2019 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 28 ′ 28 "  N , 6 ° 50 ′ 56"  E