Steel Mill Ilsede

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English: This area is the site of the former Ilseder Hütte (Steel mill Ilsede).
Its history dates back to 1853 when the first company prospecting for possible coal and iron ore deposits in the regions around Peine was founded. They did find iron, but no coal.
Still, a first iron smelter under the name of "Bergbau und Hüttengesellschaft zu Peine"
(Minig and iron smeltering coorporation Peine) was built in 1856.
In the economical crisis of 1858, the coorporation went bancrupt, but was reformed into
the stock coorporation "Aktiengesellschaft Ilseder Hütte".
In 1861, pig iron production could begin, and although the site proved to be a disadvantage,
because of poor transportational means, it started to expand rapidly.
In 1872 the first steel-works in Peine were built, refining and milling the iron produced here
to steel. To satisfy the growing demand, a third blast furnace had to be built in 1879.
The problem of transportation was eventually solved in 1929, when a harbour was built at the
Mittellandkanal, from where goods would be transported by railway.
The Ilseder Hütte remained umharmed during the 2nd World War and continued to expand
in the new Federal Republic of Germany. It was, however, severely hitby the financial crisis
of 1970, from which it never really recovered. In 1970 it merged with the Salzgitter Ag, its former
competitor. Mining of iron ores was stopped in 1978 and in 1983 the blast furnaces where put out.
The coke plant, power station and chemical by-recovery stayed in operation until 1995.
Today, the area has been converted into a business park, a few relics of the former
buildings have been left standing, to give an insight into the history of the site.
One of them, the former compressor hall, is used to host live concerts.
More info (German only):
www.ilseder-huette.de
www.hist.uni-hannover.de/projekte/ilsede/index.html