!!!Eisen

Iron: Together with  salt, iron is one of the oldest and most 
important products mined. As indicated by archaeological finds, the 
first major occurrence of iron-mining occurred during the  Iron Age 
(8%%sup th/%  century B.C. to 15. B.C.). During the 
later period of the Iron Age  (La Tène Culture), iron gained 
particular importance among the  Celts, who had migrated to Austria 
from the West, especially for weapon and tool production. The 
importance of "iron from Noricum", probably mined at the Erzberg near 
Huettenberg, is demonstrated by the impressive excavations at nearby  
Magdalensberg. Because of its quality, the Romans also valued the iron 
produced here, which was smelted and forged in draft furnaces.

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After the migration of the Germanic peoples had interrupted iron 
mining for many centuries, there is evidence of renewed mining 
activities from the 11th/12th century at  Huettenberg and at  Erzberg 
in Styria. Shaft furnaces, known since Roman times, were used to smelt 
the iron. During the Middle Ages, these furnaces were gradually moved 
to the valleys, where bellows could be operated by water wheels 
(Radwerke ironworks or balling furnaces). Hammer works, which were 
necessary for iron processing and required great amounts of wood for 
fuel, were widely distributed throughout the country in areas rich in 
wood and water. Each of the various branches of ironmaking, i.e. 
processing of pig-iron, low-grade steel and finished products, was 
therefore a decisive factor in shaping particular regions ( 
Eisenwurzen), most of all in Styria, Carinthia and Upper Austria. 
Carinthian and Styrian refining processes ensured distribution of this 
 Steel worldwide.

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This steel also formed the basis for the quality of the finished 
objects, which were produced with a marked division of labour. Smiths, 
locksmiths and cutlers were typical occupations around Steyr, Leoben, 
Waidhofen an der Ybbs and Scheibbs. From 1504, Innsbruck became a 
centre of armourers; in Thoerl (Styria), a large armourers' workshop 
with an early capitalist structure was set up by Sebald Poegl; Ferlach 
(Carinthia) has since been a centre of gunsmiths ( Guns). Scythe 
production was widespread and the Kirchdorf/Micheldorf guild 
represented the highest concentration of scythe producers. The wealth 
of the citizens of these towns was, however, based on trading these 
products rather than only their production. Iron from Vordernberg went 
primarily to the South and East, but also to the West via Salzburg. 
Most of the iron from Innerberg went north. Carinthian iron was sold 
by two rival towns, Althofen and St Veit an der Glan.

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Although ironworking enjoyed a high reputation in the 16%%sup th/%  
century, it was hit by the negative effects of the change in the major 
trade routes, the expulsion of Protestant entrepreneurs and the 
outbreak of the Thirty Years' War. With the foundation of the 
"Innerberger Hauptgewerkschaft" iron company in 1625, the government 
established a large ironworking plant with a central administration. 
After the troubled times of war and religious conflict, it was decades 
before ironworking could revive under the influence of mercantilism 
(around the middle of the18th century). Among the measures promoting 
this development was the liberalisation of wood and provisions supply 
and of the iron trade under Emperor Joseph II. In Vordernberg, 
Archduke  Johann reformed iron making through the foundation of the 
"Vordernberger Radmeister-Communitaet" in 1829.

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By this time, industrialisation in England had already brought 
technological change, which also reached Austria, albeit with some 
delay. From the middle of the 18%%sup th/%  century, the balling 
furnace was replaced by the flowing furnace, which after 1820/30 
developed into  Blast Furnaces. The old open furnaces gave way to the 
English puddling ovens around 1830/40, and rolling mills were erected 
in the place of hammer mills. This new development was furthered by 
the requirements of railway construction and mechanical engineering. 
Large rail-rolling mills were set up in Carinthia, in Zeltweg, Graz 
and in Ternitz, engine factories in Vienna (Simmering, Floridsdorf), 
Wiener Neustadt und Linz, important iron and steel works were founded 
by A.  Schoeller in Ternitz, by J. H.  Bleckmann in 
Muerzzuschlag, Count H.  Henckel vonDonnersmarck in Zeltweg, the 
brothers E. and A.  Boehler in Kapfenberg and F. Mayr in Donawitz. In 
1900, the Austrian arms factory, founded by J.  Werndl in Steyr in 
1869, was one of the biggest metal-working companies of the 
Austro-Hungarian empire.

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After 1860, the Bessemer process and Siemens-Martin process as well as 
the transition from charcoal to coke firing again changed the 
conditions of iron and steel production. The most important plants in 
Styria and Carinthia merged into the  Oesterreichisch-Alpine 
Montangesellschaft in 1881, with Donawitz as the main works, which 
focused on the mass manufacture of steel; the works in Kapfenberg, 
Muerzzuschlag and later Judenburg, where the first Austrian electric 
furnace was set up in 1907, produced special steel and high-grade 
steels.

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In the inter-war period, the huge iron and steel industry went through 
a crisis, with subsequent unemployment. From 1926, 
Oesterreichisch-Alpine Montangesellschaft had become dependent on the 
German "Vereinigte Stahlwerke" (United Steelworks). In 1938, the huge 
"Reichswerke AG Herman Goering" iron and steel works in Linz 
was constructed in a very short time and had reached vast proportions 
by the end of the war. In 1946 all the large iron and steelworks were 
nationalised under the VOeEST ( VOEST, Vereinigte Oesterreichische 
Eisen- und Stahlwerke AG) ( Nationalised Industry). This merger, and 
the 1948 iron and steel plan, formed the basis for successful 
reconstruction with the assistance of Marshall Plan funds. In 1952/53, 
Linz and Donawitz achieved a worldwide breakthrough in metallurgy with 
the implementation of the large-scale LD Process.

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Since the 1970s, far-reaching restructuring has transformed the iron 
and steel industry in Austria. In 1973, Alpine and VOeEST merged to 
form VOEST-APLINE AG, and in 1975,  Schoeller-Bleckmann,  
Boehler-Werke and the Steirische Gussstahlwerke AG in Judenburg merged 
to form the  Vereinigte Edelstahlwerke AG (VEW). However, the crisis 
in the European steel industry also affected the Austrian iron and 
steel industry, since 1990 incorporated in the  Austrian Industries 
AG, and led to further structural changes. Since 1994 state shares 
have been greatly reduced through takeover by  Oesterreichische 
Industrieholding AG. However, the  Corex process, developed by VOEST 
in the late 1980s, again represented a technological milestone. In the 
period 1998-1990 the metal production and processing sectors employed 
32.505 staff in Austria and several companies reported high export 
rates.

!Literature
H. Pirchegger and R. Toepfner, Eisen immerdar, 1951; M. 
Mitterauer (ed.), Oe. Montanwesen, 1974; M. Wehdorn, Die Baudenkmaeler 
des Eisenhuettenwesens in Oesterreich, 1982; P. W. Roth (ed.), 
Erz und Eisen in der Gruenen Mark, 1984; Beitraege zur 
eisengeschichtlichen Forschung in Oesterreich, 1986.


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