Phoenixsee

Iserlohn entrepreneur Hermann Diedrich Piepenstock could hardly have dreamed of such a thing: for 160 years, the Hermannshütte he founded dominated the Hörde district of Dortmund, and then, in just under six years, the once huge steel mill was transformed into a local recreation area with an artificial lake, noble townhouses and chic restaurants. The only reminder of the "steel era" is a Thomas pear ...

Infotext read more: … Medieval Hörde Castle is another relic, featuring a number of extensions as the company's administrative headquarters since the 19th century. The "Fiery Elias" train, once carrying molten pig iron from the neighbouring steelworks right through the heart of Hörde, is now a biking lane. Cleared of its underground canal, the rehabilitated Emscher ripples along the northern shore of the Phoenix lake.

"Baby Jesus is baking cookies" is the saying in the old days when the slag ladle is dumped and paints the dark skies over Hörde red – a feature that is particularly common in winter. At that time Hörde is literally wedged between two industrial complexes. The cornerstone is laid by the Iserlohn entrepreneur Hermann Diedrich Piepenstock (1782–1843). He gains professional experience in his father's pin factory, later establishes the first tinplate factory in Westphalia and, in 1840, acquires the Hörder Castle to build the Hermannshütte to the east of Hörde as a puddling and rolling mill based on the English model. Upon his death, a blast furnace plant is built close to the west of Hörde. In 1852 the two companies merge to form the first public limited company in the Ruhr steel industry. The names Phoenix-East and Phoenix-West date back to the merger with Phoenix AG in 1906. In the years that followed, the companies merged again and again before the plants were taken over by Hoesch plc in 1966 and finally became part of ThyssenKrupp Stahl plc in 1997.

On the site of the steelworks, which was closed down in 1998, an extensive technology and business park is under construction. To the east of Hörde, Dortmund opts for one of the most spectacular redevelopment projects in the Ruhr region, the Lake Phoenix. Construction starts four years after the shutdown of the steelworks: from 2005 to 2010, more than 2.5 million cubic metres of soil and around 420,000 cubic metres of demolished reinforced concrete are being shifted. The success is impressive, even if some of the old residents feel left behind by the dizzying pace of change.

Steel Time Travel Destinations Nearby

Hoesch-Museum

Dortmund

Botanical Garden Rombergpark

Dortmund

The "Steel Time Travelers" Luise & Alfred: Lake Phoenix

Lu:

My Iserlohn friend Hermann Piepenstock has really done a great job here!

Full dialog text: Lu: Here, my Iserlohn friend Hermann Piepenstock has really done a great job!

Al: Hear, hear! So he's from Sauerland!? Another imported pioneer from the province ...

Lu: That's just around the corner. Iserlohn has always been an iron and a forest town! In any case, he has appeared like the "Phoenix from the ashes" with his "Hermannshütte" and is cooking steel here.

Al: Here? Right next to the castle of the Lords of Hörde? And right next to the little river Emscher?

Lu: Gigantic - isn't it!? There is even a metallurgical joint stock company! One day I or my descendants will surely participate in it ...

Al: Who knows. Maybe in the future the steel will be cooked in China or India, and here you stroll in silent memory of the time of the red-hot furnaces, which were simply flogged ...

Lu: That's clear. So you really think that all this will go down the drain - uh - the Emscher? Then you might as well flood it and build beautiful mansions for Dortmund's heroes on the banks of this "Phoenix Lake" ...

Visitor information

Address:
Hafenpromenade
44263 Dortmund
www.phoenixsee.dortmund.de

Opening hours:
The area is accessible 24 hours a day.

Short description (film without sound)

"The filming baker's wife", as Elisabeth Wilms (1905-1981) was called in Dortmund, made more than 150 films. The Phoenix area can be seen from the air, a Thomas pear of the Phoenix East steelworks, where steel is made from iron, as well as steel ingots being rolled into sheets in several stages in the rolling mill.