This is what the early days of metal processing in Thale looked like.
Between 1686 and 1710, there was a furnace that smelted the iron ore mined near Thale. The furnace was charged from above and used hydropower from the Hammergraben ditch. The water came from the Bode River via a specially constructed channel.
The furnace produced pig iron. But to turn it into malleable iron that could be forged, the carbon content had to be reduced. That was done in the finery forge seen in our second model. In Thale, the air supply to the forge fire was boosted by two huge bellows – again powered by a waterwheel. This processing step allowed the properties of the iron to be adjusted.
In 1686, a local magistrate called Johann Christoph Wichmannshausen and his son had acquired the mining and iron processing rights for the area around Thale. They entered into a contract regarding those rights with Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg, who was celebrated as the Great Elector. This is what it sounded like in the language of the period:
"... concerning the new ironworks to be built in the County of Reinstein not far from the valley, Johann Christoph Wichmannshausen begs to have it built from the ground up and brought to perfection at their expense [...], to which his Serene Highness, the Elector, graciously gives approval for his own person and his descendants, and hereby grants him license to do so".
The groundwork for efficient metal processing had been laid. But iron ore was not available in sufficient quantities, and during times of low rainfall, the facilities had to be shut down. So only a sheet metal works was in operation at the Thale site – until the day the first steelworks was established.
All depictions: © Hüttenmuseum Thale
