Welcome to the mini jungle in this old wool mill, where the old halls are slowly being reclaimed by nature. Ferns and little trees are enjoying the humidity in here and turned the old factory into a little oasis.
This wool mill was established in the late 19th century and shut down after almost 8 decades of production. A part of the production was already moved to a different location, which kept operating until the end of the century. Read More
In the late 1830’s this wool mill was established. It was mainly focussed on the production of wool fabrics and later also on silk fabric. Around the 1920’s it merged with another wool mill. At the time, it had around 150 looms, a couple thousand spindles and about 250 employees. Read More
Big industrial sites need a lot of energy. Sometimes it’s worth investing in an own power plant. In the 1940’s construction of this power plant started. Five turbines supplied power to the adjecent factory and in the 50’s one more turbine was added. 10 years later the big hall was expanded on the north side with space for one turbine and on the southern end with space for 2 turbines. Read More
This hall was part of a large chemical factory which settled here in the 20th century. The large factory occupies more than 10 hectares and even had its own power plant.
The machines in this hall were used to extract nitrogen from air. Some other halls are now being used for storage and some were opened up for sports clubs. Read More
In the 50’s, this thermoelectric power plant was built to use the lignite excavated from the adjacent mining field. Because of the lignite running out, a new power plant was built just around the corner. This one closed down in 2001. The turbines were dismantled and a part of the building was demolished. Only the control room and a small cooling tower remain. The rest of the buildings were gutted as well and vandals already found their way onto the premises. Read More
This slate mine was opened 150 years ago and consists of a shaft of about 175 metres and a workshop where slates were chopped and cut. In the 1910’s the mine employed a few hundred workers and produced more than 10 million slates per year. Read More
This hydroelectric power station was built in the 1910’s to supply power to the chemical plant on the premises. The power station consisted of seven Francis turbines that together produced almost 200 million kWh of electricity per year.
During the Second World War the station was damaged heavily. After restorations the capacity was reduced by 30%. In the 70’s the power station was replaced by a new power station. Copper thieves then looted the abandoned site and took everything valuable. Read More
In the early 20th century a paper mill was built. A small hydroelectric powerplant with two turbines was added to provide power. The paper mill and powerplant were active until the 1950’s.
The powerplant has a beautiful control panel made of (what looks like) marble plates with nicely decorated instruments. The back of the control panel has been gutted entirely but for the rest there were no traces of vandalism of any kind. Read More
This textile factory was built in the 1900’s. Wool was treated here using a American patented technique, it was the only factory in Europe using this method.
Wool was treated in special baths to retain flexibility and elasticity. The liquid of these baths could be refined to yield a wax which was used extensively for protection and treatment of skin. Some of the samples were still in the abandoned laboratory of the factory. Read More
This mine was built in the early 20th century by the state owned mining company. For representative purposes the buildings were built with red bricks, featuring curved facades.
Already in the 1920’s, the mine produced over 1 million tons of coal per year and at the start of the Second World War the mine saw an increasing demand of coal for use in the weapon and steel industry. After the war a new shaft was dug and the mine got modernized. Read More
At the end of the 18th this pottery was established. It’s first years were difficult and in the 1800’s it got in the hands of a German man. At this time, the pottery was mainly focussed on ceramic tiles. In addition, decorative and ornamental pieces were made, as well as crockery.
The following century the pottery stayed in the same family. Business was going well and from the 1850’s-1860’s two new steam-powered factories were built. The pottery was considered one of Europe’s larges pottery’s at the time. After the annexation of Lorraine to Germany in 1871 the pottery expanded to two new locations in France. Read More
In the 1850’s they started mining here, the coal mined was brought up with the hoist. From here, the minecarts rolled into a station where they were tipped over. The freshly mined material would then be transported into the processing plant where it would be washed and crushed into smaller chunks. From this facility, the coal was primarily transported to several blast furnaces. Read More
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