In the vernacular, the steam-powered grinding workshops which came in to being in the 1850s were referred to as “Maschinn”. Here a steam engine was used as the driving force. It meant that the grinders were no longer dependent on a site with water power.
The farmer Ernst Loos built one of the largest steam-powered grinding workshops on the Widderter Höhenrücken (Widderter Ridge) in 1888. The three-storey brick building with adjacent engine house provided a workplace for 183 grinders. The grinders called it “Loosen Maschinn” (Loos‘ machine). This steam-powered grinding workshop operated until 1990.
Following extensive refurbishment work, the building now accommodates – alongside living and business facilities – an exhibition room run by the Förderverein Industriemuseum Solingen e.V. (Association of Friends) with the help of the LVR-Industriemuseum.
The exhibition retraces the history of the Loosen Maschinn and of the former steam-powered grinding workshops in Solingen that numbered more than 100. On show are: an original grinder’s workplace, films, countless photographs, workpieces and tools and also a model of the building with documentation on all outworker workshops which still existed in 1988. Regular photograph exhibitions are presented in the staircase gallery in co-operation with the Solingen Fotoforum.
Address: Loosen Maschinn, Börsenstr. 87, 42657 Solingen
Opening hours: during the photograph exhibitions only. Opening dates and guided tours upon request.
Entrance: 1 €
To book: LVR-Industriemuseum Gesenkschmiede Hendrichs, Tel.: 0212 232410
