Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content in contrast to that of cast iron. It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions, which give it a wood-like "grain" that is visible when it is etched, rusted, or bent to failure. Wrought iron is tough, malleable, ductile, corrosion resistant, and easily forge welded, but is more difficult to weld electrically.
The Fichtel Mountains is a mountain range in Germany and the Czech Republic. They extend from the valley of the Red Main River in northeastern Bavaria to the Karlovy Vary Region in western Czech Republic. The Fichtel Mountains contain an important nature park, the Fichtel Mountain Nature Park. The Elster Mountains are a part of the Fichtel Mountains.
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. Blast refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure.
Bog iron is a form of impure iron deposit that develops in bogs or swamps by the chemical or biochemical oxidation of iron carried in solution. In general, bog ores consist primarily of iron oxyhydroxides, commonly goethite.
The Wealden iron industry was located in the Weald of south-eastern England. It was formerly an important industry, producing a large proportion of the bar iron made in England in the 16th century and most British cannon until about 1770. Ironmaking in the Weald used ironstone from various clay beds, and was fuelled by charcoal made from trees in the heavily wooded landscape. The industry in the Weald declined when ironmaking began to be fuelled by coke made from coal, which does not occur accessibly in the area.
A bloomery is a type of metallurgical furnace once used widely for smelting iron from its oxides. The bloomery was the earliest form of smelter capable of smelting iron. Bloomeries produce a porous mass of iron and slag called a bloom. The mix of slag and iron in the bloom, termed sponge iron, is usually consolidated and further forged into wrought iron. Blast furnaces, which produce pig iron, have largely superseded bloomeries.
Annaberg-Buchholz is a town in Saxony, Germany. Lying in the Ore Mountains, it is the capital of the district of Erzgebirgskreis.
A stamp mill is a type of mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking material down is a type of unit operation.
Ferrous metallurgy is the metallurgy of iron and its alloys. The earliest surviving prehistoric iron artifacts, from the 4th millennium BC in Egypt, were made from meteoritic iron-nickel. It is not known when or where the smelting of iron from ores began, but by the end of the 2nd millennium BC iron was being produced from iron ores in the region from Greece to India, and sub-Saharan Africa. The use of wrought iron was known by the 1st millennium BC, and its spread defined the Iron Age. During the medieval period, smiths in Europe found a way of producing wrought iron from cast iron, in this context known as pig iron, using finery forges. All these processes required charcoal as fuel.
Cornwall Iron Furnace is a designated National Historic Landmark that is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in Cornwall, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The furnace was a leading Pennsylvania iron producer from 1742 until it was shut down in 1883. The furnaces, support buildings and surrounding community have been preserved as a historical site and museum, providing a glimpse into Lebanon County's industrial past. The site is the only intact charcoal-burning iron blast furnace in its original plantation in the western hemisphere. Established by Peter Grubb in 1742, Cornwall Furnace was operated during the Revolution by his sons Curtis and Peter Jr. who were major arms providers to George Washington. Robert Coleman acquired Cornwall Furnace after the Revolution and became Pennsylvania's first millionaire. Ownership of the furnace and its surroundings was transferred to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1932.
Schmidmühlen is a municipality in the district of Amberg-Sulzbach in Bavaria in Germany. It is situated at the junction of the Vils and Lauterach rivers.
Fichtelberg is a municipality in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria in Germany. It is a state-recognised climatic spa.
Metals and metal working had been known to the people of modern Italy since the Bronze Age. By 53 BC, Rome had expanded to control an immense expanse of the Mediterranean. This included Italy and its islands, Spain, Macedonia, Africa, Asia Minor, Syria and Greece; by the end of the Emperor Trajan's reign, the Roman Empire had grown further to encompass parts of Britain, Egypt, all of modern Germany west of the Rhine, Dacia, Noricum, Judea, Armenia, Illyria, and Thrace. As the empire grew, so did its need for metals.
Archaeometallurgical slag is slag discovered and studied in the context of archaeology. Slag, the byproduct of iron-working processes such as smelting or smithing, is left at the iron-working site rather than being moved away with the product. As it weathers well, it is readily available for study. The size, shape, chemical composition and microstructure of slag are determined by features of the iron-working processes used at the time of its formation.
Mining in the Upper Harz region of central Germany was a major industry for several centuries, especially for the production of silver, lead, copper, and, latterly, zinc as well. Great wealth was accumulated from the mining of silver from the 16th to the 19th centuries, as well as from important technical inventions. The centre of the mining industry was the group of seven Upper Harz mining towns of Clausthal, Zellerfeld, Sankt Andreasberg, Wildemann, Grund, Lautenthal und Altenau.
Frohnau is a village in the Saxon town of Annaberg-Buchholz in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in southeast Germany. The discovery of silver on the Schreckenberg led in 1496 to the foundation of the neighbouring mining town of Annaberg. The village of Frohnau is best known for its museum of technology, the Frohnauer Hammer, and the visitor mine of Markus Röhling Stolln. The mining area around Frohnau has been selected as a candidate for a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the Ore Mountain Mining Region.
Eisenhammer Dorfchemnitz is an historic hammer mill in Dorfchemnitz in the Ore Mountains of Germany. The mill is an important witness to proto-industrial development in the Ore Mountains. Of the once-numerous hammer mills only three others remain working in Saxony apart from the Frohnauer Hammer: the Frohnauer Hammer Mill, the Grünthal Copper Hammer Mill and the Freibergsdorf Hammer Mill.
Mägdesprung is a village in the municipality of Harzgerode in the district of Harz. It nestles in the Harz Mountains at a height of 295 m.
The Burgstall of Schlosshügel near Weidenberg is a lost hill castle or circular rampart site of the type known as a motte from the Early Middle Ages. It lies on the southern perimeter of the Fichtel Mountains at a height of 699 metres above sea level (NN) above the village of Sophienthal, which is part of the market borough of Weidenberg in the Upper Franconia county of Bayreuth in Bavaria. The burgstall or lost castle site was partly investigated by means of an archaeological test excavation and was also mapped several times in the past.
Rothe Erde is a district of Aachen, Germany with large-scale development in heavy industry. It is sub-district 34 of the Aachen-Mitte Stadtbezirk. It lies between the districts of Forst and Eilendorf.
