Stages in the development of the Neunkirchen Iron and Steelworks from its beginnings to the merger with Stahlwerke Röchling-Burbach GmbH in 1982 1593 The first piece of evidence for the existence of an iron and steelworks in Neunkirchen is a furnace plate which was produced there. The iron and steelworks are operated by appointment of i.e by or for Earl Ludwig II of Nassau-Ottweiler. The workers all come from the Eifel, southern Belgium, the area around Metz-Diedenhofen and the Hunsrück region. 1597 The first documented mention of an iron and steelworks in Neunkirchen. ab 1605 There are various tenants, among others Robert Maupassant and Nicolas Unbehendt. 1610 Wrought iron and cast steel from Neunkirchen are already well known. Neunkirchen is the first iron and steelworks in the Saarland to use ore from the Lorraine region, minette. 1618 Start of the Thirty Years War. 1635 Complete destruction of the village of Neunkirchen and the iron and steelworks by troops from Spain and the Lorraine region. 1652 Reconstruction by Earl Johann Ludwig of Nassau-Ottweiler and lease to Peter Surmond and Heinrich Beucher. 1658 The two tenants ask that their contract be cancelled due to the high wages to be paid. The iron and steelworks are continued by the house of Earl Ludwig. 1669 Peter Pastert becomes the new tenant. 1675 The ruler sees himself forced to operate the ironworks again himself. However, further losses still have to be accepted. Mai 1683 In a letter from the Earls widow, Eleonore Clara von Nassau-Saarbrücken, she states that "the iron and steelworks was bankrupt". 1686 Remaclus-Renard-Joseph de Hauzeur, a Wallonian, solves the wage problem: He brings a lot of workers from his home country and breathes new life into the ironworks. 1696 De Hauzeur settles in Züsch near Hermeskeil with most of his workers. The iron and steelworks is managed by Earl Friedrich Ludwig under his own responsibility once again. 24.06.1703 The successors are Hans Georg Koch, a businessman from Zweibrücken, and his partner Grégoire Jacques, former iron and steelworks foreman from Neunkirchen. They pay 450 florints rent a year to the soverign house of Nassau-Saarbrücken and obtain a monopoly on iron for the principality of Ottweiler: there is a ban on imports of foreign iron. 1728 In a report to Princess Charlotte-Amalie von Nassau-Saarbrücken, the ironworks is described as the "most significant" west of the Rhine. 1744 Erection of a second hammer. 29.08.1748 Thomas von Stockum from Frankfurt am Main takes over the Neunkirchen Iron and Steelworks with his sons paying a lease of 3,500 florints a year. The plant includes melting facilities with a blast furnace and two old blowers, a large hammer with two refining fires, a forge and three pairs of bellows, a small hammer with double blower, a steelmaking plant operating using a refining fire process, an ore breaker and washing plant. The blast furnace has an output of one ton of iron in 24 hours. 11.07.1749 Prince Wilhelm Heinrich von Nassau- Saarbrücken gives his permission for the construction of a second melting plant at lake Hasselbach in Sinnerthal. 1752 Erection of the so-called "upper melting plant". The workers required for its operation are brought in from Württemberg. The melting plant includes a furnace with two large bellows, a sand casting plant, a forming house and an ore washing plant. 28.02.1762 The Stockum lease is extended by six years. 1770 Renewed extension of lease by 12 years. 1770 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe reist als Student an die Saar und besucht u.a. die Neunkircher Hütte. 20.08.1782 Prince Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken starts leasing the iron and steelworks to the French company, "Société fermière Le Clere, Joly et Comp". 1792 - 1794 As a consequence of the French Revolution of 1789, troops advance to the Rhine. 1793 French troops occupy the former princedom of Nassau-Saarbrücken und dissolve the government. The area is annexed to France. The French government views all the properties in the area as belonging to the state. The iron and steelworks are put under the control of the particular districts. from 1797 The iron and steelworks changes owners several times. Owners: First it is leased to the company, Equer, for nine years, then sold to C. F. Maes, who then sells to Antoine Grégoire Michel from Paris. 1798 Establishment of a Saar-Departement. 09.03.1801 Friede von Lunéville: the whole region west of the Rhine breaks away and becomes annexed to the French Republic. The Saar-Departement is divided into four administrative districts, arrondissements, with 34 cantons. 21.03.1806 The Neunkirchen Ironworks is purchased by the brothers Stumm (Johann Friedrich, Friedrich Philipp and Christian Philipp), the founders of the "Gebrüder Stumm OHG". Payment takes place in three stages, each amounting to one third of the purchase price, on April 21st, June 23rd and, finally, on September 29th. At this time, the plant consists of the following facilities: . Two melting shops with two blast furnaces and blowing facilities . Two large hammers and one small one . A slag stamping plant . Two ore washing plants . Two moulding shops . A sand casting plant . Two coal tumblers The products range from stretch-formed steel, wagon axles and iron wheels to castings such as ovens and utensils. The iron and steelworks has the right to all the iron ore in the principality of Ottweiler and employs around 200 workers (iron and steelworkers, ore miners, charcoal burners and woodmen). At the same time, the Stumm brothers acquire the Halberg and Fischbach iron and steelworks. 1814/15 As part of the Paris peace treaty and the new state organisation agreed at the Vienna Congress; the majority of the area which forms the Saarland today, comes under the Prussian Rhine Province. The economic consequences for the iron and steelmaking operations in the Saarland are serious. Their largest market, France, remains barred to them due to high duties. 31.12.1817 Stumm OHG takes on 40 % of the shares of "Kupfer-, Schwarz- und Weißblechfabrik zu Dillingen" (Copper, black and tin plate in Dillingen);. Dillingen guarantees to give priority to the Stumms when buying iron. In return, the Stumm brothers agree not to produce sheet metal in their plants. 1828 Stumm OHG acquires the Geislautern iron and steelworks and integrates it into the Dillingen works.The share capital is increased. The Stumm brothers thus become the principle share holders of the Dillingen Iron and Steelworks. They own 60 % of the share capital. 1833 Karl Friedrich Stumm takes the first puddling plant in the Saarland into operation. Pit coal replaces wood as the most important fuel for smelting. The first rolling mill in the Saar region goes into operation. It continues to operate with water power as before and so production is initially limited to small sections and wire. from 1835 Karl Friedrich Stumm takes on sole management of the works in October 1835 and, in the period following, he expands the works and modernizes various facilities: . Installation of the first steam engine. . Start of operation of stronger, steam-powered rolling. . Conversion of the blast furnaces for burning coke. . Puddling and welding furnaces are only fuelled by hard coal. The range of products is extended to include medium and heavy sections, flat bar, round bar and square iron. 1845 The first rolling mill in the Saar region for the manufacture of iron railway tracks goes into operation. This was the beginning of mass production which ensured the continued existence of the works for a long period to come. 1846 Mining work commences in the newly acquired ore fields on the Lahn. 24.02.1848 Karl Friedrich Stumm commits suicide. His brother-in-law, Karl August Bernhard Böcking, becomes guardian to Karl Friedrich's sons, who are still minors and, as their guardian, he takes over the management of the company. from 1848 Continued strengthening and consolidation of the works' earning performance have priority in Karl Böckings work. Erection of a new puddling plant by 1854. 01.04.1858 Karl Ferdinand Stumm joins the company and manages it with Karl Böcking. 1861 - 1864 During these years, the Neunkirchen iron and steelworks produced around 33 % of the annual consumption of crude iron in Germany: 26,000 t. 1866 A new rolling mill goes into production and the old rolling mills are modernized. The number of puddling furnaces has increased to 39. They are responsible for the performance of the rolling mill. 1870 - 1872 Construction of own coke oven plant. Autumn 1871 Karl Böcking resigns as works manager and now leaves the task solely in the hands of Karl Ferdinand Stumm who had joined the company in 1858. Karl Ferdinand Stumm turns out, besides being a successful businessman, to be very active politically, too. Among other responsibilities, he is a member of the Reichstag of the North German Union and takes part in the war in 1870/71, first as an officer in the territorial army and later in the peace negotiations in Frankfurt. from 1876 Extension and modernisation of the production facilities, among other measures: . A new rolling mill for girders, sleepers and wide universal plate goes into operation. . Erection of new coke oven plants with 192 ovens . Puddling plant and rolling mills are connected to one another In addition, the "upper melting plant" is shut down and ore fields are purchased in Luxembourg and Lorraine. end of 1881 Thomas steel is blown for the first time in Neunkirchen. from 1882 Additional investment is required: Neunkirchen is to be the universal plant for every rolling mill product: . New rolling mill goes into operation: manufacture of steel rails, sleepers and heavy girders. . New finishing rolling mill with two three-high trains is used for manufacturing structural   steel, billets, sheet bar, girders and railway sleepers. 1885 Conversion of the Thomas steel plant, including, among other measures, installation of an exchangeable converter. Erection of four new Cowper hot blast stoves. 1885/86 The investments pay off: Rolled products from Neunkirchen are given awards at the world fairs in Antwerp and Chicago. 1886 A new wire rolling mill starts production. 1887/88 Construction and start of operation of a blooming mill right beside the steelmaking plant. 01.04.1888 The "Gebrüder Stumm OHG" is converted into a limited partnership: "Gebrüder Stumm KG". The individually liable partner is Karl Ferdinand Stumm. 1888 Karl Ferdinand Stumm, also known as "König Stumm" ("King Stumm"), is raised to the hereditable status of baron by Kaiser Wilhelm II and is given the right to add "-Halberg" to his name. 1890 Expansion of the works is continuing rapidly. . Iron production amounts to 112,000 t a year. This is more than three times the   1878 production level. . The number of employees at the works increases in 12 years from 2,000 to 6,000. Construction of a blast furnace plant in Ueckingen, near Diedenhofen, close to the company's own ore fields in Lorraine. Expansion in the following eight years. A total of five blast furnaces are erected during this period. 1892 Kaiser Wilhelm II visits the Stumm family's Neo-gothic castle on the Halberg and the Neunkirchen iron and steelworks. 1900 Neunkirchen produces 289,000 t of iron a year, twice as much as in the year 1888. However, the workforce has only increased by about a third. 08.03.1901 Date of the death of Karl Ferdinand Baron von Stumm-Halberg. His death brings about changes in the company's management since Karl Ferdinand has no male heir. 04.04.1901 Theodor Zilliken and Fritz Horn, former General Directors of the company, join the company as individually liable partners and take on the business and technical management of the company, respectively. 1901 Purchase of the Achenbach mine near Dortmund, so that the Ueckingen plant is not dependent on an external source of coal. 1901/02 Erection of two new blast furnaces with a daily output of 130 t each. 31.03.1903 Conversion of the company into a public limited company: "Gebrüder Stumm GmbH". Karl Ferdinand's brother, Baron Ferdinand von Stumm becomes head of the supervisory board. The company is managed by two men, Zilliken and Horn. 01.09.1904 Fritz Horn leaves the company. Theodor Zilliken is now solely responsible for the management of the company. 1905 The total annual production of iron in the Neunkirchen and Ueckingen plants amounts to 393.000 t. The Neunkirchen plant employs a total of 4,491 iron and steelworkers. from 1910 Fundamental modernisation of the rolling mill. Measures: . New reheating furnaces . Electrical drives . Increased input weights and so greater rolling lengths August 1914 The First World War breaks out: A large proportion of the workers is called up for military service. Production is switched over to armaments. Women, and in particular Russian prisoners of war, stand in for the missing workers. 1916 - 1919 Erection of an open-hearth steelmaking plant (SM steelmaking plant) with 35-t- furnaces. 1918/19 The consequences of war are considerable: . The ore mines in Lorraine come under French compulsory administration (1919). . The Saarland is under the the supervisory control of the League of Nations.   Formation of a Saar region but great French influence can still be felt:   Gendarmerie and military are not withdrawn (till 1935) . The Saar iron and steelworks now have to pay export duty to Germany, their main   customer. . In 1919, the production of iron decreases from 18,000 t/month at the beginning of the   year to 3,000 t/month at the end of the year. . The plants are periodically shut down. . There are redundancies. December 1919 Ferdinand von Stumm gives up his position as head of the supervisory board and leaves the company at the same time. Compulsory auction of the blast furnace plant at Ueckingen and the ore mines in Lorraine on 31st of the month. The French group "S.A. des Forges et Aciéres de Nord et Lorraine" becomes the new owner. 14.04.1920 Sale of 60 % of the shares in the Neunkirchen plant to the group Nord et Lorraine. Foundation of "Neunkircher Eisenwerk AG, formerly Gebrüder Stumm" (Stumm Brothers). 1926 The French shareholders sell around 66 % of their shares, i.e. 40 % of the whole share capital, to the "Eisen- und Hüttenwerke AG" from Cologne which is under the ownership of Otto Wolff. ab 1926 The new shareholder carries out a modernisation programme with an investment volume of around 50 million Reichsmarks: . Enlargement of the blast furnaces . Erection of an additional blast furnace with a hearth diameter of 5.20 m and a daily output   of 400 t . Construction of a new ore processing plant and two high-efficency coke-oven batteries . Installation of new rolling mills . Intensified utilization of by-products (tar, ammoniac, benzol) . Rationalisation of the transport systems and fuel economy. 10.02.1933 Serious accident: During repairwork, a spark causes the explosion in the over 70m-high gasometer located near the coking plant. There are 65 deaths, more than 90 injured are counted, 170 houses are destroyed and over 700 inhabitants become homeless in an instant. As a result of the catastrophe, a house-building project which had already been planned was quickly realised in the form of the "Rote-Kreuz-Siedlung" in the Steinwald area. 1935 - 1941 Extensive modernisation is carried out. A total of 45.5 million Reichsmarks are invested: . Demolition of blast furnaces I and II and construction of two larger and more   powerful furnaces. . Increase in capacity of the SM furnaces. . One of the first German wide strip mills goes into operation   (up to 800 mm) 01.09.1939 The Second World War breaks out: The town is overflowing with soldiers, west-wall workers and evacuees. The iron and steelworks can continue operating as women take the place of men who have been called up. up to 1945 On ten occasions, the works are the target of heavy bombing attacks. On 30.11.1944, 1,285t of bombs fall on the works alone. Production comes to a complete standstill. The works have been completely destroyed. 21.03.1945 American troops occupy the works. June 1945 The Saarland comes under French occupation. The Neunkirchen iron and steelworks is put under sequestration. Lack of energy and materials hinder any rapid reconstruction of the facilites which had been destroyed. 08.03.1946 The works power station goes into operation again. 28.02.1947 The first 40 ovens in the coking plant are ignited. 1949 Start of rebuilding of the actual iron and steelworks using financial means provided by the Marshall-Plan. In March, the SM steelmaking plant starts operating again. On 01.07.1949 the General Director, Georges Thédrel takes over the sequestration. 15/16.07.1950 With great celebrations, the two first blast furnaces (III + IV) are ignited on 15.07. One day later, the 2 furnaces are blown in and taken into operation. The production of iron amounts to an impressive 158,952 t in this year. 1953 Iron production reaches a higher level than ever before at 693,307 23.10.1955 In the Saar Referendum: 67.7 % decide against the Saar Statute. Following that, the state of sequestration is lifted. The owners from before the war, Otto Wolff and the Stumm brothers get their property back, each receiving 50 %. 1958 Erection of a new blooming mill. 1961 This year, the Neunkirchen iron and steelworks produces 900,000 t of crude steel. There are 9,500 employees. 1962 - 1967 Necessary modernisation measures are carried out: . Construction of a continuous Morgan wire rod mill . A new burden preparation plant and conveyor belt charging for the blast furnaces   result in more economically efficent iron production. A total of more than 280 million Marks are invested in the works up till 1967. 1970 Construction of a disc-type gas holder of 80,000 m3 nominal capacity with a diameter of 41 m and a height of 68 m. 1972 A new light section mill, one of the most modern of its time, goes into operation. 1974 1.07 million tonnes of iron, 1.29 million tonnes of crude steel and 1.05 million tons of finished rolled products are produced. At the beginning of 1975, the number of employees is approximately 8,800. 08.08.1976 An OBM steelmaking plant (oxygen blown through the bottom) goes into operation. Three OBM converters take over the production from six Thomas converters and three SM furnaces The age of Thomas steel has come to an end. A total of around 37 Million t of this steel was produced in Neunkirchen. 1977 A difficult year: European steel production decreases by 19 %. The Neunkirchen Ironworks is also affected by the bankruptcy of the Stumm concern. The "Eisen- und Hüttenwerke AG" which belongs to the Otto-Wolff Group does not make use of its option on the Stumm shares of 50 % in the Neunkirchen iron and steelworks. In the middle of the year, Marquard und Bahls GmbH & Co., part of the MABANAFT Group, which, at that time was the the biggest free oil trading company in Europe, acquires "Stumm AG". All the iron and steelworks in the Saarland are affected by the crisis. It becomes ever more apparent that a restructuring concept is necessary. March 1978 ARBED Luxembourg takes over 48.5% of the shares from the two shareholders of the "Neunkircher Eisenwerk AG", the "Eisen- und Hüttenwerke AG" and the "Stumm AG". Each of the original owners retain half of the remaining 3 %. 18.12.1978 Approval of a restructuring programme by the management of "Stahlwerke Röchling-Burbach GmbH " and the "Neunkircher Eisenwerk AG" with the cooperation of the Federal Government, local government and the unions. Among others, the following measures are decided: . Except for 2.1 % which remain, &ARBED S.A take over the shares from the industrial   administration of Röchling at the "Stahlwerke Röchling-Burbach GmbH" ARBED S.A.   therefore becomes practically the sole shareholder. . Transfer of the 97 % ARBED share in the "Neunkircher Eisenwerk AG" to the    "Stahlwerke Röchling-Burbach GmbH". The Neunkirchen iron and steelworks thus    becomes a subsidiary of Röchling-Burbach but legally remains an independent company. . Transfer of the 32.4 % share of the Neunkirchen Eisenwerk AG" in the "AG der Dillinger    Hüttenwerke" to the "Stahlwerke Röchling-Burbach GmbH" . Step-by-step replacement of the OBM steelmaking plants in Völklingen and Neunkirchen   as well as of the SM steelmaking plant in Völklingen by a new LD steelmaking plant with   continuous casters in Völklingen by 1982/83 and, at the same time, restructuring towards   more high grade and special steels. . The production of finished rolled products is concentrated on the efficient rolling mills    /special product mills within the framework of a comprehensive programme of change   and reorganization among all the ARBED companies. "ARBED-Finanz Deutschland GmbH" (AFDG) is engaged between ARBED Luxemburg and the manufacturers of long products in the Saarland and, as 100 % subsidiary of ARBED it holds all the shares of the ARBED-owned companies in Germany. 1980 The European steel industry suffers a large decrease in sales and, at the same time, a serious loss of revenue. The EU lays down production quotas and minimum prices. The Neunkirchen iron and steelworks stops producing tube strip in its northern plant. 1981 Further measures are required towards making savings and reorganizing production: . On December 31st, blast furnace V is shut down. .Production of twisted reinforcing steel stops. 27.02.1982 Blast furnace IV is shut down. Mitte 1982 Adaptation of the restructuring programme due to a worsening market and revenue situation. Merger of the "Stahlwerke Röchling-Burbach GmbH" and the "Neunkircher Eisenwerk AG" to form "ARBED- SAARSTAHL GmbH" (01.07.1982). The second stage of construction of the new basic oxygen steelmaking plant in Völklingen begins. The liquid phase in Neunkirchen shuts down on July 29th. The steelmaking plant and the first heat blooming mill stop production on the same day. The coking plant follows on the 31st of the month but the light section and wire rod mills continue producing. Interim result of the new organization: . Three fully integrated ironworks have been merged to make one . Instead of seven steelworks at three locations there are two at one location . Of the original 21 rolling mills, only 8 remain in operation . Reduction in capacity of almost 40 %