Bessemer Birne (former ironworks Rödinghausen)

The Hönnetal, described by the 19th century poet Levin Schücking as wild and gloomy, and therefore picturesque and romantic, is also a region of early industrialization.
Water power, iron ore deposits, wood, coal and lime were important raw materials here and founded the iron industry. It began in Rödinghausen with the noble von Düker family and their mills, Hammes and an ironworks in 1744. In 1890, Daniel Luyken and Carl Altpeter founded the Rödinghausen iron foundry with three other partners. On August 1 of that year, production began with 80 workers. The foundry produced petroleum lamps, building fittings, household items such as irons, waffle irons and pans in artistic and commercial castings. Later, axle bearings, brake blocks and wagon fittings for the railroad were added. In 1915, during the First World War, the iron foundry expanded. A new hall was erected and the first Bessemer bulb was blown to produce steel from pig iron. With it,
nine tons of steel could be produced in 20 minutes. Previously, this had taken 24 hours! The second furnace followed in the same year and the third was installed in 1916.
By the end of the First World War, the workforce of the iron foundry, which now consisted of two production facilities, had grown to 800 men and women - as elsewhere, the women had to leave their jobs after the war for the men returning home. In 1925, the Rödinghausen iron foundry opened up a new market segment with Christmas tree stands. During the armaments production of National Socialism, an economic upswing set in: Over 6,000 tons of grey cast iron and 3,800 tons of cast steel were produced for the war in 1939.
In the young Federal Republic of Germany, the iron foundry expanded its product range to include heavy-duty fittings required by utilities for gas and water, refineries and other industries. From 1953, the iron foundry operated under the name "Eisenwerk Rödinghausen". In 1960, the three Bessemer bulbs were taken out of production and replaced by a modern electric arc furnace.
The bulbs remained on the factory premises. In the mid-1980s, the ironworks was one of the ten largest foundries in the Federal Republic of Germany. But the end of the entire operation came in 1996.
As early as 1994, the Westfalen Office for the Preservation of Monuments assessed the three Bessemer pears as unique technical monuments: they stand for a specific technical process of steel production and have rarity value. When the plant was shut down in 1996, the LWL Industrial Museum Henrichshütte in Hattingen took over the three pears. Since then, they have been stored there in the warehouse.
However, a Bessemer pear returned to Rödinghausen in 2024 - such a return does not happen often. The Bessemer pear from the Rödinghausen ironworks, erected here as a landmark on the cycle path, shows how much Menden's urban consciousness is still shaped by its location on the picturesque and romantic Hönne river and its interwoven history as an iron and steel industry.