Bergisches Land, Märkisches Sauerland, Siegerland The slate hillsides of the Rhineland do not resemble an industrial area in the slightest. That said, it is indeed an industrial area whose economic roots can be traced back into the distant past. This was one of the first regions to make charcoal from ... more
Bergisches Land, Märkisches Sauerland, Siegerland
The slate hillsides of the Rhineland do not resemble an industrial area in the slightest. That said, it is indeed an industrial area whose economic roots can be traced back into the distant past. This was one of the first regions to make charcoal from timber, manufacture iron from ore and harness water for power. As a result of the ambition, industriousness, inventive powers and craft skills of the local population water wheels were soon turning, blast furnaces glowing, hammer works pounding, spindles rotating and weaving looms clattering. This route leads through one of the oldest industrial regions in Germany.
The region has very fluid boundaries. Literally. The River Rhine in the west, the Sieg in the south and the Wupper in the north. The regions to the east - the Märkisch Sauerland around Hagen and Lüdenscheid, and the area including Siegen and Wittgenstein – contain similar industries. At the end of the Middle Ages it was the same picture everywhere. A furrowed craggy labyrinth of hills and valleys, full of woodland, streams and rivers, much of which was inaccessible. This might have been good for people travelling on foot. Farmers on the other hand could easily be ruined by the barren ground.
Then things began to change. In the Wupper valley, where it the river begins to broaden out a little, people began to bleach yarn. At first this was a side activity but later it grew into a full time occupation. They learnt quickly and, with the help of the waters of the Wupper which were particularly low in calcium carbonate, achieved such a high standard of quality that they began to make a business out of it. Very soon tradesmen from Wuppertal were buying up raw yarn in the far-off regions of Silesia to bleach and sell on to Flanders, Holland, France and England. Dyers and weavers processed the yarn further, thereby increasing their profits. As a result the industrious neighbouring towns of Barmen and Elberfeld quickly grew to become major European textile manufacturing centres. But there was a price to pay. Cottage industries died off, people were forced into the factories and mass poverty arose as a result of the unbridle capitalism. But even at that point the local people refused to be ground down. Instead they set up self-help organisations, hospitals for the poor and sick, and political societies. In 1863 Barmen had more members than any other section of the German General Workers Union. Shortly before that Friedrich Engels, who came from Elberfeld, helped write the Communist Manifesto.
Textile production was basically centred on the Wupper valley. It is the largest theme on the route which also includes mining and metalworking, both of which were vitally important throughout the region Here it all started in the Siegerland an area with one of the richest deposits of ore in Germany. The valuable iron ore was brought to the surface from a teeming mass of mostly tiny pits and sent to the local mills, which could be found in almost every village in the area in the 18th century. The people of the Sauerland processed the pig iron with forging hammers, whose regular blows turned the brittle iron into fine, hard, malleable rods. Some of it was immediately taken by local industries for making wire. The large majority of the remainder ended up in the hammer works and small forges of the Bergisch Land. A massive range of products ensued, the best known of which are cutlery from Solingen and tools from Remscheid, whose quality has been world famous for generations. Around 1800 there were twice as many people working in the region’s small-scale iron industry as on the land.
Whatever the industry – textiles or metal – the basis for this success were the self-employed craftsmen and home workers, small businesses which often consisted of no more than a single family. Their distinctive characteristics were experience, quality and self-confidence. And of course, mobility. This meant not being afraid of long distances and hard bargaining all over Europe and indeed, in the case of Solingen and Remscheid, all over the world. It is not for nothing that the worldwide success story of the Mannesmann brothers begins in Remscheid. And the nearby Wupper valley provided the nucleus for the international Bayer concern, one of whose sites still lies beneath the Wuppertal overhead railway, another proof of originality and mobility.
The route connects 20 attractive monuments in the region as examples of its rich industrial heritage. These include museums, iron and steel mills, factories and transport facilities. Each can stand on its own as an example of the regional achievements in the early industrial era. At the same time the network of sites reveals their multifaceted links, not only internally but well beyond the immediate borders. The starting point for the route is the Hendrichs Drop Forge Museum in Solingen, one of six sites belonging to the Rhineland Industrial Museum.
It is worth mentioning that a large number of different initiatives in the region have joined forces to conserve and present their industrial heritage. Their networks and websites are full of additional interesting information.
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Hendrichs Drop Forge LVR Industrial Museum
Merscheider Str. 289 - 297
42699
Solingen, Germany
German Museum of Wire
Fritz-Thomée-Straße 12
58762
Altena, Germany
Sauerland Museum
Alter Markt 24-30
59821
Arnsberg, Germany
Westphalian Salt Experience
An der Rosenau 2
59505
Bad Sassendorf, Germany
Luisenhütte
Wocklumer Allee
58802
Balve, Germany
Sauerland Visitor Mine
Sauerländer Besucherbergwerk
Glück-Auf-Straße 3
59909
Bestwig, Germany
Krenzer Hammer
Peddenöde 3
58256
Ennepetal, Germany
Freudenberg Technical Museum
Olper Strasse 5
57258
Freudenberg, Germany
Maste-Barendorf Historic Factory
Baarstraße 220-226
58636
Iserlohn, Germany
Bergisch Tram Museum
Bergische Museumsbahnen
Kohlfurther Brücke 57
42349
Wuppertal, Germany
Wuppertal Museum of Industrial Culture - Engels House | Museum of Early Industrialisation
Engelsstraße 10
42283
Wuppertal, Germany
Altena Castle
Fritz-Thomee-Strasse 80
58762
Altena, Germany
Old Dombach Paper Mill LVR Industrial Museum
Kürtener Straße
51465
Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
Regional Museum of Mining, Handicraft and Trade
Burggraben 19
51429
Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
Ermen & Engels Power Station LVR Industrial Museum
Engels-Platz 2
51766
Engelskirchen, Germany
SteamCountryPeople - Eslohe Museum
Homertstraße 27
59889
Eslohe, Germany
Mining Museum of the Altenkirchen district
Bergbaumuseum der Kreises Altenkirchen
Schulstrasse 13
57562
Herdorf, Germany
Märkische-Museums-Eisenbahn
Elsetalstrasse 46
58849
Herscheid, Germany
Freudenthal Scythe Forge Industrial Museum
Freudenthal 68
51375
Leverkusen, Germany
Bremecker Hammer Museum of Forging
Brüninghauser Straße 95
58513
Lüdenscheid, Germany
Historical Museum of the City of Lüdenscheid
Geschichtsmuseum der Stadt Lüdenscheid
Sauerfelder Strasse 14
58511
Lüdenscheid, Germany
Johann Wülfing & Son Textile Mill Museum
Am Graben 4
42477
Radevormwald, Germany
Cromford Textile Mill LVR Industrial Museum
Cromforder Allee 24
40878
Ratingen, Germany
German Museum of Tools
Cleffstraße 2-6
42855
Remscheid, Germany
German Roentgen-Museum
Schwelmer Straße 41
42897
Remscheid, Germany
German Museum of Blades
Klostenhof 4
42653
Solingen, Germany
Müngsten Bridge
Müngstener Brückenweg
42659
Solingen, Germany
Wenden Ironworks
Hochofenstraße 6d
57482
Wenden, Germany
Museum of Axes, Wheels and Carriages
BPW Bergische Achsen Kommanditgesellschaft
Ohlerhammer
51674
Wiehl, Germany
Monorail | Schwebodrom
'Schwebodrom' Museum
Werth 96
42275
Wuppertal, Germany