Wendener Hütte

Wendener Hütte is an old ironworks and hammer mill in the hills near Wenden, Germany. It stands beside the Bigge stream in a valley once rich in iron ore and water power. The site was founded in 1728 by Peter and Johann Ermert under a licence from the Archbishop of Cologne. Later it passed to the Remy family, early leaders of the German iron trade. In 1774 a new hammer mill began turning pig iron into steel for sale as far as Rotterdam. After coal replaced charcoal and railways arrived, the works closed in 1866. The ironworks survives as seven brick and stone buildings arranged around the stream. A residential house once housed managers, while a stable and coach-house show how the site was run. The casting room still holds its Möllerboden and furnace where iron was melted. Nearby stands the boiler house that powered machinery, and a store-room kept raw materials dry. The hammer-mill itself, with its heavy trip hammer, is the centrepiece of the yard. Inside the buildings visitors find displays of journals, contracts and account books from the Ermert and Remy families. There are letters, floor plans and price lists comparing German and English iron goods. Sketches show how the works grew over the 18th century. Outside, the quiet valley and the sound of the Bigge stream recall the site’s working past.