Cultural monument of the city of Essen
"The Halbach Hammer"
was transferred to the city of Essen as a cultural monument in 1936 by Gustav von Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach.
Originally located in Weidenau an der Sieg.
The facility was first mentioned in 1417 as "Fickynhütte". In 1820 it was still one of the most productive plants. It was decommissioned in 1900.
In 1915 it was acquired by Gustav Krupp, who had it rebuilt in the Nachtigallental valley in 1935-36 and donated it as a cultural monument to the city of Essen.
As a monument, the Halbachhammer refers to the pre-industrial production of wrought iron based on hydropower and charcoal. As a hammer mill, the Halbachhammer had the task of making carbon-enriched, brittle pig iron through a renewed melting process ("fresh") of malleable iron. The fresh iron was then compacted evenly in a subsequent step under the throwing hammer, freed from the effects of slag and forged into a "semi-finished product", the so-called bar iron.
The current facility consists of an originally hydro-powered, heavy throwing hammer in the form of a solid oak structure that fills the building. Opposite the hammer system is the »wind turbine«. which uses two bellows and an air boiler - originally the fresh stove, now the chimney - to supply the air required for the fire work in a continuous flow.
This location is the station of the theme routes
5.) Krupp and the city of Essen
11.) Early industrialization