The Witkowitz Iron Works (Vítkovické železárny in Czech, VŽ) were one of the most important companies in Moravian heavy industry in the 19th and 20th centuries. Coal mining, coking, pig iron production, steel refining and processing as well as mechanical engineering were combined in a relatively small area. The systems still shape the townscape of Vítkovice today and are sometimes referred to as "Ostravské Hradčany" (based on the Prague Hradčany). The blast furnaces and the coking plant have had the status of a national cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 2002.
During the week guided tours (230 ck - as of October '21) unfortunately only in Czech. The audio guide (u-a- German) and the board (English) give you the most important insights. The site can be visited without a tour, the blast furnace cannot.
The Rudolfshütte ironworks in Witkowitz near Ostrava was founded in 1828 by the Olomouc cardinal and Habsburg archduke Rudolf Rainer at the suggestion of the Viennese professor Franz Xaver Riepl. After the bishop's death in 1831, Salomon Freiherr von Rothschild, founder of the Viennese line of the Rothschild family, became interested in the company, which worked with what was then modern technology, but initially failed due to resistance from the cathedral chapter.