Best Practice: "Steel Time Travel" to reveal links between two industrial regions
The imposing blower house of the ERIH Anchor Point Henrichshütte Steelworks in Hattingen (D) features a new attraction: the information point of "Stahl-Zeit-Reisen im Ruhrgebiet und in Südwestfalen" (Steel Time Travel in the Ruhr Area and South Westphalia). Both regions have made European industrial history and are also spearheading European industrial heritage tourism. The project is a perfect example of successful cooperation between two ERIH regional routes.
It focuses on close interactions between the two neighbouring regions. This becomes evident in the St. Anthony ironworks in Oberhausen, built in 1758, which is considered the cradle of the coal and steel district today, but with only a few remnants left. The best place to find out what it once looked like is Balve-Wocklum in the Sauerland. That is where Luisenhütte is located, a completely preserved iron smelting plant built in the same year and operated with charcoal - thus serving as a kind of blueprint for the Oberhausen site.
The technical monuments of both regions turn stories like this into ever new and exciting moments. They enable visitors to explore the entire history of industry - from its earliest beginnings to heavy industrialisation and all the way to these days - in a single, cohesive geographical area. The Henrichshütte Steelworks in Hattingen is located exactly at the crossroads of the Ruhr region and southern Westphalia. Its information point with walk-in map, touch-screen monitors and diversely designed panels on the wall of the blower house are an excellent starting point for industrial heritage enthusiasts and steel time travellers!
Steel Time Travel in the Ruhr Area and South Westphalia