Ehemaliger Hochofen

Can you feel the heat? Not the summer sun, but the ghost of it, emanating from the Ehemaliger Hochofen. This blast furnace, a giant of Dortmund’s industrial past, once pulsed with fiery energy. The Ehemaliger Hochofen stands as a monument to Dortmund’s steel heritage. It’s a story of innovation, expansion, and ultimately, transformation. The Hörder Bergwerks- und Hütten-Verein, established in 1852, began constructing this very blast furnace, then part of Phoenix-West, just west of Hörde. Their first furnace roared to life in 1854. Three more quickly followed. By 1855-1856, with around 1200 workers, the Ehemaliger Hochofen, part of this larger complex, churned out an impressive 22,750 tons of pig iron annually. The Hörder Verein employed about 2100 workers in total. They even had their own iron ore mine to feed the hungry furnaces. In 1864, the Ehemaliger Hochofen and its siblings embraced the Bessemer process, a cutting-edge technology patented in England just eight years prior. This innovation fueled growth, boosting pig iron production to 58,000 tons annually by 1870. The Hörder Verein wasn’t just keeping up with the times. They were shaping them. In 1879, they secured a license for the revolutionary Thomas process, the first in Germany. This led to the construction of a Thomas steelworks in 1880, further cementing the Ehemaliger Hochofen’s place in industrial history. Expansion continued with a Martin steelworks in 1882 and a new rolling mill for rails, sleepers, and semi-finished products. By 1885-1886, pig iron production soared to 106,500 tons. Another groundbreaking innovation arrived in 1890: Europe’s first pig iron mixer, right here at the Ehemaliger Hochofen. This allowed direct processing of pig iron from the blast furnace into the converters, streamlining the workflow between Phoenix-West and Phoenix-Ost. Think of the logistical feat, the sheer scale of these operations. Molten iron flowed between the two sites via torpedo wagons on the Eliasbahn railway. By the turn of the century, the Ehemaliger Hochofen, part of a modernized complex, reached an annual output of 330,000 tons of pig iron. The workforce swelled to 5000, plus 1800 miners working in the company’s own Schleswig and Holstein mines. In 1898, another world first: the installation of a large gas engine to directly utilize the blast furnace gas. The Ehemaliger Hochofen didn’t just witness history; it forged it. It stands silent now, but its roar echoes in the story of Dortmund’s rise as an industrial powerhouse.