Category Archives: Other

The First Mini Mill

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Badische Stahlwerke Electric Arc furnace

in Germany was  Badische Stahlwerke in Kehl  founded in 1968 by  industrial pioneer Willy Korf. The mill was built next to Korf’s already existing bar rolling mill on the banks of the river Rhein.
Only one year later Korf founded another steel mill in Hamburg (Hamburger Stahlwerke) and the first U.S. Mini Mill in Georgetown, S.C.

Willy Korf died in an airplane crash in 1980 and soon after his first mill went bancrupt. The Seizinger und Weizmann families took over in 1984 and made the mill into one of the most efficient steel mills worldwide.
With it’s yearly output of more than 2 mio. tons of steel it is hardly a mini mill anymore.
Today BSW runs two 100 ton electric arc furnaces, two continuous casters and a bar- and wire rolling mill.

More images at Stahlseite.

Stahl- und Hartgusswerk Bösdorf

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Stahl- HartgussWerk Bösdorf


The SHB steel foundry in Leipzig, Germany was founded in 1894 by Max Heller.It moved from Leipzig to Bösdorf in 1917.
After the second world war the mill was nationalized under the new name VEB Stahl- und Hartgusswerk Bösdorf. The first electric arc furnace in the DDR was installed here in the 1950ies.
The mill supplied abrasive resistent steel castings to the east German mining industry.
In the early 1980ies the city of Bösdorf was torn down to make way for the neighbouring lignite open pit mine. The foundry moved to its new site in Leipzig-Knautnaundorf.
One of the largest foundries in eastern Germany was built here in between 1980 and 1984.
In 1993 the plant was privatized and became a shareholders company.
In 1997 the DIHAG group from Essen took over.
Further viewing: Stahlseite .

Roller Capital

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Though the blast furnaces are long gone, the town of Siegen in Germany is still the capital of roller production. Five foundries still cast rollers for the steel industry, paper mills and other industries.
One of them is the Karl Buch roller foundry.
The company was founded in 1855 by Karl Buch and is located in Siegen- Weidenau since 1867.
The foundry produced alloyed rollers since 1920. In 1955 the cupola furnaces were replaced by modern electric furnaces.
Since 1984 a vertical centrifugal caster for rolls up to 60 tons is in use.
Today rollers up 85 tons can be casted statically.
The foundry is still owned by the Buch family.
Further images at stahlseite.de .

Teeming Ingots

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BGH Freital

BGH(Boschgotthardshütte) Freital is a speciality steel mill just outside of Dresden, Germany.
It was founded in 1855 under the name Sächsische Gußstahlfabrik benefited by the local iron ore and coal deposits.
After the second world war it was completly dismantled by the Soviets and rebuilt afterwards now called VEB Edelstahlwerk 8. Mai 1945 (date of the German capitulation).
The mill employed more than 5000 people and used to bet he largest speciality steel producer in the former DDR.
After the German reunification in 1990 the work force succesfully fought for the survival of their steel mill and Freital was privatized by the West German entrepreneur Rüdiger Winterhager from Siegen.

Today BGH Freital produces speciality steel in a 42 ton electric arc furnace and a downstream ladle furnace plus a VOD facility for further steel refining.Casting is done in a continuous horizontal caster or by teeming ingots.
The rolling department includes a blooming mill and a bar and wire rolling mill.
The forging division contains a continuous forging machine and a hammer mill.
BGH Freital employes more than 600 people. Further images at Stahlseite.

Steel Foundry

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Silbitz Guss

The Silbitz foundry was established in 1938 in a rather remote area of the German Reich to produce military equipment. During the war more than 1000 workers were employed.
In 1946 the foundry was nationalized and became part of the SAG Marten (Soviet stock company) and in 1954 the VEB Stahlgiesserei Elstertal Silbitz. This company was privatized in 1990 and is named Silbitz Guss GmbH since.
The foundry produces nodular iron and steel castings up to eight tons a piece.
Two eight ton electric arc furnaces and four induction furnaces are in use.
Further images.

Hand rolling.

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Hand RollingThe Walzwerke Einsal GmbH is one of the oldest iron works in Germany.
Founded as a forge in 1675 by the Holtzbrinck family (same family that today owns the Rowohlt and DIE ZEIT publishers) it became the Einsaler Eisenwerke in 1856. Main product were wire and nails.
In 1963 the Thomashoff family took over and transformed the Einsal works into a speciality steel rolling mill.
In 1992 a new fully automatic rolling stand for bars was installed.
Sections are still produced on three Banning double-duo hand rolling stands.
Finishing is done in a cold rolling and a heat treatment center.
Walzwerke Einsal employes 300 people.

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