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Entrance

The LVR Industrial Archaeological Park is part of the LVR-Industriemuseum, venue St. Antony-Hütte.

The excavation was carried out by the LVR-Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege im Rheinland, Xanten branch, from 2006 to 2008.

Cash register in the museum

Guided tours

Reservations under: 02234/9921555

Further information: www.industriemuseum.lvr.de

Information about the roof

Self-supporting steel shell construction made of galvanized steel (323 steel roof shingles screwed together), weight: approx. 73 tons, area coverage approx. 900 square meters.

Architects

Ahlbrecht-Felix-Scheidt Generalplaner GmbH

Essen-Berlin-Dresden

Structural Engineering

Schülke Wiesmann Ingenieursbüro, Dortmund

Construction period

10/2009 to 08/2010

The LVR Industrial Archaeological Park was supported by:

The exhibit is under video surveillance.

Condition of the area in September, 2005, before beginning of the excavation.

The excavation site in March, 2006, after clearing the area.

First wall remains were excavated in March, 2006.

During the second dig campaign in summer, 2007, the foundations of the main production plants came to daylight.

The excavations were essentially concluded in autumn, 2007.

General view of the excavations in 2009.

The St. Antony Ironworks was the first ironworks in the Ruhr area. On October 18, 1758, hot metal flowed from the blast furnace for the first time. Basis of the facility were the local raw materials bog iron ore and charcoal. The works was the birthplace of the Gutehoffnungshütte, which later developed into a global corporation. The St. Antony Ironworks went through many changes. Excluding the period from 1820 to 1826 when it was used as a paper mill, it served as a blast furnace works until 1842. After closing down the blast furnace operation in 1842 the foundry of the St. Antony Ironworks still operated until 1877. Afterwards several of the buildings were used for residential purposes. The demolition of the last buildings was completed in 1969. Only the residential and office buildings on the other side remained in the original condition.

In spring 2006 the Xanten branch of the LVR-Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege im Rheinland began with archaeological excavations in the area of the former smeltery. The excavations concentrated upon the most important area of the production plants and exposed a great variety of foundations and wall fragments from different construction phases. Because the foundations and foundation walls of the different construction phases overlapped repeatedly, our visitors witness a bewildering picture of wall remains.

Found, amongst others:

- the in 1842/43 built foundations of the blast furnace for coke operation,
- the foundations of a cupola oven,
- the foundations of a steam blast,
- the foundation walls of a boiler house,
- the foundation walls of the casthouse.

Site plan 1793

1758 - 1820

During the first operation period of the smeltery, the blast furnace in the casthouse was directly located at today’s Antoniestraße. Besides the still existing residence building, the St. Antony Ironworks consisted of just a few buildings: casthouse with molding shop, storage shed and a slag pocket located down the stream. For the first time in the region, in about 1797, a cupola oven was put into operation at St. Antony. It was used for smelting the extracted iron ore. The cupola oven stood in the casthouse.

Plan form the paper mill period (edited)

1820 - 1826

After the first closing of the blast furnace, a paper mill was temporarily operated on the premises. For this type of use, reconstruction of the buildings and the watercourse should have been necessary. No other preserved buildings of that time period were found.

St. Antony Ironworks around 1834, graphic of Jacob Weeser-Krell (1902)

Site plan, presumably about 1830

1827 – 1842

In 1827 a blast furnace resumed operation at the St. Antony Ironworks. It was positioned in almost the same place as the first blast furnace. Now, however, it was equipped with a furnace top elevator. The works was complemented with further buildings: a clay molding shop, a large charcoal depot and a repository with a blow room. One after another, three cupola ovens complemented the operation.

St. Antony Ironworks around 1853, graphic of Jacob Weeser-Krell (1902)

Site plan of St. Antony Ironworks, November 1855 (section)

1843 – 1850/54

After blowing out the charcoal blast furnace in 1842, to the west of the further enlarged casthouse a new blast furnace was built on St. Antony. A workshop building followed. Coke furnaces also operated on the site. For the first time in the Ruhr area, the blast furnace was intended to run on coke. However, it was never put into operation and demolished again between 1850 and 1854. Its foundations have been preserved under the later works floor.

Image of St. Antony Ironworks in 1844, photographer: Herrmann Günther

Site plan 1875, architectural survey 1969

1850/54 – 1877

After demolition of the coke blast furnace, the major extension of the works into a foundry took place between 1857 and 1859. A new boiler house with adjacent steam blower was built, as well as several workshop and storage buildings. Another construction was carried out in the 1870s. Workshops for the production of cast iron pipes and the processing of cannon balls were added. At around 1875 the factory buildings reached their biggest scope. In 1877 the foundry was closed. Several workshop buildings were now used for residential purposes, and not demolished until 1969. Only the exterior of the residential and office building on Antoniestraße remained preserved.

Built in 1857

Construction plan of the expansion of the St. Antony Ironworks, 1857

Steam boiler plant for the St. Antony Ironworks, April 4th, 1874 (replacement of an older boiler)

The boiler house was built in 1857 during the reconstruction of the ironworks into a foundry, and after the demolition of the coke blast furnace. It featured an own chimney which adjoined south of the boiler house. It operated until the shutdown of St. Antony Ironworks in 1877. Two steam boilers stood in the boiler house: An older boiler had already been installed at St. Antony in the 1820s, and it was moved into the new boiler house. The second boiler was new. The final acceptance of the boilers took place on the 16th of September, 1857. In 1874 one of the older steam boilers was replaced by a new one. The steam drum of the new boiler was already used and came from the Oberhausen coal mine. The boilers generated the steam for the neighbouring steam blower and therefore participated in the air supply of the cupola ovens. In those the iron was melted for the foundry, and subsequently could be poured into mouldings.

The oldest part of 1758

Tapping hall of a blast foundry in the second half of the 19th century

Crane for the foundry at St. Antony Ironworks, November, 1873

The oldest part of the casthouse originated from the foundation time of St. Antony Ironworks. It was built in 1758, along with the first blast furnace. In 1827, 1842 and 1857 extensive additions and reconstruction were made. The equipment was replaced on a regular basis and brought up to modern standards. Until 1842 the casthouse also served as a casting hall for the blast furnace. This was also planned for the coke oven that was never used. Since about 1797, for further processing of the iron, a cupola oven was also operated in this building. At times three cupola ovens ran simultaneously. Up to the shutdown of St. Antony Ironworks the building served as the casthouse of the foundry. Parts of the facility were also used as a sand molding shop. To dry the moldings there were drying furnaces.

This plan is a montage of the field drawings from the archaeologists involved in the excavation of the LVR-Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege im Rheinland. The numbers explain the shown findings of masonry and foundations relics.

1 Wall

2 Block of Masonry

3 Block of Foundation

4 Stack

5 Paving

6 Blow-Out

7 Dry Stone Wall

8 Iron Parts (Pipe, Plates, Threads etc.)

9 Foundation for Cupola Oven

10 Canal

11 Coverture

12 Fan Cylinder

13 Charcoal Layer

14 Hexagonal depression in an octagonal recess

A LVR-Industriemuseum Altenberg Zinc Factory: The exhibition Schwer.Industrie (heavy industry) is hosted in the rooms of the 1853 founded zinc rolling mill. It tells about the history of the iron and steel industry in the district (Hansastraße 20).

B At the main station in Oberhausen the exhibits and cultural staging at the Museums.Bahnsteig (museum platform) remind of the bond between city and heavy industry.

C Peter Behrens-Bau: The former main warehouse building of the Gutehoffnungshütte was built between 1921 and 1926. It is now a museum depot and exhibition hall of the LVR-Industriemuseum. The fifth floor hosts an exhibition about the life and work of the architect and designer Peter Behrens (Essener Straße 80).

D The first working-class settlement in the Ruhr area Eisenheim was built by Gutehoffnungshütte between 1846 and 1903. The Museum.Eisenheim explains the history of the settlement and the life in the colony (Berliner Straße 10a).

E The St. Antony Ironworks opened in 1758. It was the first ironworks in the Ruhr area. Museum and LVR Industrial Archaeological Park tell the exciting history of this cradle of the Ruhr industry and show the remains of the former factory buildings (Antoniestraße 32-34).

Explore the Eisen.Straße (Iron street) in Oberhausen and get to know the historical sites of the iron and steel industry in Oberhausen.

The LVR-Industriemuseum has partnership arrangements with

Écomusée Creusot-Montceau in Burgundy (France).
Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya in Catalonia (Spain).

In addition, the LVR-Industriemuseum cooperates with

Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg (Pennsylvania, USA).
Muzeum Górnictwa Weglowego in Zabrze (Poland).
Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron, Ironbridge Gorge Museum (Great Britain).

The LVR Industrial Archaeological Park was supported by:

With its 14 locations the two North Rhine-Westphalian industrial museums tell the industrial and social history of the state North Rhine-Westphalia.

1. Altenberg zinc factory in Oberhausen

The museum of the Schwer.Industrie [heavy industry] tells, together with their satellites St. Antony Ironworks and Museum.Eisenheim, the story of the steel industry in the Ruhr area.

2. Cromford textile factory in Ratingen

How technical developments from England were copied and used in the 18th century - by means of industrial espionage – can be seen in the first factory on the continent.

3. Hendrichs die forging in Solingen

The employees of the former scissors factory produce scissors according to old patterns and processes.

4. Alte Dombach paper mill in Bergisch Gladbach

Before the gates of Cologne this idyllic paper mill shows the development of the paper production from craft to mass production.

5. Ermen & Engels cotton spinning mill in Engelskirchen

The electrification of the Aggertal valley began in Engelskirchen, through the spinning mill of Peter Ermen and Friedrich Engels senior.

6. Müller cloth factory in Euskirchen

On historical machines the museum demonstrates the washing, dyeing, carding, spinning, weaving, fulling, napping and shearing of wool.

7. Gernheim glassworks in Petershagen

8. Brickyards Museum Lage

9. Textile Museum Bocholt

10. Henrichenburg shiplift in Waltrop

11. Zollern coal mine in Dortmund

12. Hannover coal mine in Bochum

13. Nightingale coal mine in Witten

14. Henrichshütte smeltery in Hattingen

Entrance 30m left

Cash register in the museum

Guided tours

Reservations under: 02234/9921555

Further information: www.industriemuseum.lvr.de

The LVR Industrial Archaeological Park was supported by:

The exhibit is under video surveillance.

As the first ironworks in the Ruhr area, the St. Antony Ironworks started operating in 1758. Until 1842 a blast furnace produced here, followed by a foundry until 1877. The works was the birthplace of the global corporation Gutehoffnungshütte. Archaeologists brought to light the foundations, which are the remains of the original production plants. In the residential and office building on the opposite side, a museum of the Landschaftsverband Rheinland tells the exciting story of the St. Antony Ironworks.

The LVR Industrial Archaeological Park is part of the LVR-Industriemuseum, venue St. Antony-Hütte.

Cash register in the museum

Guided tours

Reservations under: 02234/9921555

Further information: www.industriemuseum.lvr.de

The exhibit is under video surveillance.

The LVR Industrial Archaeological Park was supported by: