Wendener Hütte

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The ironworks was founded in 1728 by the ironmasters Peter and Johannes Ermert with the permission of Clemens August, Elector of Cologne, and passed in the 1740s to the Remy family, one of the leading iron-producing families on the Middle Rhine. The pig iron smelted here was processed into wrought iron in hammer mills and sold to wire-drawing works and steel hammers in the County of Mark; with the first refining hammer in the Duchy of Westphalia, the works even reached the Rotterdam market.

Thanks to technical upgrades, the charcoal-fired plant held its own for a long time against competition from the Siegerland. However, the construction of the railway through the distant Lenne valley and the rise of coke-based industry in the Ruhr made it unprofitable; the blast furnace was shut down in 1866. Afterward, a sawmill and a knitwear factory used the buildings, and the equipment was lost.

In 1969, Westphalian heritage conservators discovered the almost complete ensemble of buildings and the ironworks archive. Restoration began in 1977/78, the site was protected as an industrial heritage monument, and a museum association was founded in 1989. Since 1993, the most important parts of the works have been open to visitors – the charging floor, the casting house with its 1809 blast furnace, and the 1774 hammer mill, reconstructed with help from the LWL-Freilichtmuseum Hagen. In 2007, a visitor center with a museum on the history of iron production and a cafeteria was added.

Highlights

• Casting house with charcoal blast furnace from 1809
• Reconstructed forging hammer mill with blacksmithing demonstrations
• Four working water wheels and historic millraces
• Museum on iron production from the Middle Ages to today
• Ironworks hiking trail and sculpture trail around the site

Permanent exhibitions

• Historische Hüttenanlage – A tour through the raw-materials store, charging floor, casting house with blast furnace, and hammer mill; four water wheels show how water power was used before the steam engine.
• Museum zur Geschichte der Eisenerzeugung – Exhibition in the visitor center, opened in 2007, on iron smelting from the Middle Ages to the present.

Operated by

Museumsverein Wendener Hütte e.V.

Director

Monika Löcken

Admission & discounts

Admission applies to the museum; the ironworks grounds are freely accessible.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: no information
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

According to AG Museumslandschaft Kreis Olpe, the museum is accessible, with an accessible restroom and accessible parking spaces; no details are available for the historic ironworks buildings.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Kids’ birthday parties

Museum scavenger hunt, holiday programs, and programs for kindergartens. Children's birthday parties with selectable programs; picnic at the benches by the pond or in the old horse stable, coffee and cake by arrangement in the cafeteria.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop

Cafeteria in the visitor center, museum store.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Weddings / ceremonies

Civil weddings performed by the municipality of Wenden in the historic vaulted cellar; the grounds also serve as an event venue (e.g., Hüttenrock, Christmas market).

Plan your visit