LVR Industrial Museum St. Antony Hütte

The St. Antony Hütte is the oldest ironworks in the Ruhr area and is one of the most important testimonies to the early industrial development of the region. As the location of the LVR Industrial Museum, it today tells of initial production difficulties as well as revolutionary technical innovations, such as the first use of a cupola furnace for the production of cast iron. At the same time, the history of the hut is linked to the history of important personalities in the history of the Ruhr area, above all to that of Gottlob Jacobi. Anyone who embarks on a journey of discovery follows the traces of hard-fought ownership - and experiences a real business thriller.

Franz Ferdinand Lambert Nicolaus Freiherr von der Wenge zu Enckingmühlen und Dieck (1707-1788), cathedral canon in Münster, was the first to know how to use the ironstone deposits in Osterfeld economically. In 1741 he applied to the archbishop of Cologne for dismantling; In 1753 he received the concession to build an ironworks. But it was not until five years later, on October 18, 1758, that the blast furnace could be blown on for the first time on St. Antony: Cistercians from a monastery down the stream had sued against the commissioning of the hut for fear of their fish farm, but ultimately remained unsuccessful. From then on, iron was to be smelted on Antony, the "cradle of the Ruhr industry", for 120 years.

After von der Wenge's death in 1788, several parties claimed the hut as a result of their respective negotiations with the heirs: Eberhard Pfandhöfer, heavily indebted operator of the Gute Hoffnung hut in Sterkrade, and the Princess Abbess of Essen, Maria Kunigunde von Sachsen, and her hut manager, Gottlob Jacobi. In the end, Jacobi clarified the ownership situation "by force of arms" in favor of the abbess, took over the management of Antony himself and successfully modernized the previously rather unprofitable business. The subsequent merger with the foundry union Jacobi, Haniel & Huyssen in 1808 finally formed the basis for the creation of Gutehoffnungshütte, which was to develop into one of the largest mining groups of its time. On St. Antony, however, the blast furnace went out as early as 1843; In 1877 the foundry was also shut down. Only the smelting director's house survived into the 21st century. It was acquired by the Rhineland Regional Council (LVR) in 2004 and expanded into a museum.

Since 2008, the Director's House, in which Gottlob Jacobi lived with his wife Johanna Sophia Haniel and seven children until his death in 1823, has been the location of the LVR Industrial Museum. Scenic tours with the former director of the ironworks are a fixed part of the program, once again in the anniversary year 2020 for Jacobi's 250th birthday. In addition to numerous exhibits that illustrate the production processes and the product range of the former ironworks, the permanent exhibition also provides an insight into the living conditions of the past through numerous everyday objects and furnishings. The museum's own playground gives the youngest visitors a playful understanding of how a smelting works works via a ten-metre-high climbing tower modeled on a blast furnace.