a CASTOR at the Siempelkamp foundry. Krefeld, Germany in 2005.
Tag Archives: Germany
1899-2019
Another German steel foundry had to close it’s gates.
After producing iron and steel castings for 120 years, Schütte Meyer & Co. in Iserlohn-Letmathe made it’s last pour in early April. Images here.
Gienanth, Eisenberg
The Gienanth iron foundry in Eisenberg, Germany, founded in 1735, is one of the oldest working industrial enterprises in south-western Germany.
Today the foundry runs a 30t/h hot blast cupola furnace, installed in 1978, four induction furnaces and three 60 ton holding furnaces.
Major products are blocks for stationary and ship diesel engines.
Further images.
Saarschmiede, Völklingen.
Cutting a forging ingot.
VDM Metals, Unna
One of the lesser-known steel plants is VDM Metal’s melt shop in Unna, Germany.
It was built as a greenfield project in 1972. All smelting activities of Vereinigte Deutsche Metallwerke AG were concentrated there from then on.
In 1989, the Krupp Stahl AG took over VDM. The company became part of ThyssenKrupp in 1999.
Since 2015 VDM is owned by private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg from New York.
VDM Metals Unna operates a 30t, 15 MVA electric arc furnace, three 16t induction furnaces, a vacuum induction furnace and 3 electroslag remelting ovens.
VDM-Metals specialized in Nickel alloys and special alloyed steels.
Further images.
The Last One
in Germany. VDM-Metals’ heavy blooming-slabbing mill NO.2 in Duisburg.
The rolling mill was built by the DEMAG company from Duisburg and was put into operation at the August-Thyssen Hütte in Duisburg on 1 April 1957.
It supplied slabs to Thyssen’s new wide hot strip mill.
Blooms with a weight of up to 27t are supplied by 18 soaking pits and two cranes.
Two DC engines of 4200 kW each run the two.high rolling stand.
They are fed via a hugh Ilgner transformer consisting of two asynchronous motors with 3500 kW four control generators (two each for a rolling motor) and a flywheel with 566 tm². 
The rolling mill is owned by VDM-Metals now to produce highly alloyed slabs. After the closure of Reiner Brach’s old Klöckner rolling mill in Bremen it is the last of it’s kind in Germany.
Further images.
The Last Big Forge
Saarschmiede 125 t UHP electric arc furnace
in Germany. Images of the Saarschmiede forge (more to come).
Saarschmiede ingot casting
Deutsche Edelstahlwerke Siegen, revisited
A few new images from Siegen:
here.
The 5,1 Meter Heavy Plate Mill
in Mülheim was installed nearly 50 years ago in 1969. The 270 t rolling stand was manufactured by the Sack Maschinenfabrik in Düsseldorf, it was the largest of it’s kind in Germany. Today it is owned by Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech and mostly delivers heavy plates to the Europipe tube welding facilities in Mülheim.
Largest German Steel Foundry
Way up north right beside the seashore lies Germany’s largest steel foundry.
Sande Stahlguss produces steel castings up to 45 tons a piece.
The foundry runs two electric arc furnaces and a 45 ton AOD-converter for highly alloyed steel grades.