UNESCO World Heritage Site

Völklinger Hütte

A Steel Factory and Oil Mist

I will admit, Völklinger Hütte has to be one of the coolest sites I have ever been to. Upon arriving, you see what a colossal structure it all is. The factory itself is not closed- only the blast furnaces are, which are used to melt iron. The factory closed in 1986, due to a global reorganization of the factories due to overproduction. It was converted to a museum when UNESCO discovered that one could actually walk through the progression of technology, since this is one of the few factories in the world that still retains old features. I could go on about all the cool features, but I'll leave a lot of it out as incentive to visit. One of the coolest things I learned though was about the oil mist- where the engines run, and boy are they huge, a fine oil mist used to hang in the air as a result of the engines. You can see it in the walls, where it seeped in and couldn't get out. On a somber note however, this also caused horrible illnesses for the workers. Apparently the people who worked here were well paid, but as our tour guide said, they paid it back with their health. It really puts in perspective all of the labor movements that have happened. I couldn't help but think to how really, no matter where you were in the world, factory work was horrible. No matter what cultural values people had, the situations were similar. No wonder Marx felt a need to write his works, why socialists responded so quickly to the situation. According to our tour guide, even the city was caked in smog. Did not matter what color you originally painted your house, in the end they all became the same monochromatic color. I think schools should really encourage students going to factories- so much of what I have read about never fully sunk in until visiting the site. While I really enjoyed my time and visit, in hindsight I can't help but reflect on the reality of the workers' situation. I cannot even fully convey all that I learned just from experiencing it in my surroundings, which is why I think Völklinger Hütte is such a valuable place. Out of all the site we have visited so far, this one has certainly been the most enlightening. 

In the upper levels of the factory

A small part of the engine