OTHER EVENTS FRIENDS’ SOCIETY LUISENHÜTTE GETTING THERE VISITOR INFOS Opening the Season Förderverein Luisenhütte – Verein zur Pflege der technis- By car and coach From the west and north-west: A 46, Luisenhütte Smelt Mill Wocklum At the beginning of May, the Luisenhütte smelt mill and chen Denkmäler in Balve e.V. is the official name for the exit 49 - Hemer, then via Hemer-Deilinghofen to Balve. Wocklum 10 (turn-off from Wocklumer Allee) the Municipal Museum of Balve awaken from their win- Friends’ Society of the Luisenhütte smelt mill - society for From the north-east and east: A 46, exit 63 - Neheim- D-58802 Balve-Wocklum ter sleep. This is celebrated with a season opening held the preservation of technical monuments in Balve. It offers Süd, via Neheim-Süd and Herdringen to Balve. From on a Sunday in the first half of May. There are demon- free admission to both museums for its members with ac- the south: A 45, exit 14 - Lüdenscheid, via Werdohl to Opening hours strations of handcrafts, lots of activities for kids to join companying persons and young children who belong to the Balve. From Sorpesee: from Langscheid or Amecke or Between 1st May and 31st October in, musical entertainment, culinary offerings and spe- family. The society played a major role in transforming this via Mellen towards Balve. Follow the signs in Balve Tue. – Fri. 9.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. cial items on the programme focusing on “Nature national heritage monument into an experience museum (GPS: “Wocklum 10”). There are parking facilities for Sat., Sun., public holidays 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. meets Technology”. All of this is aimed at delighting and in the creation of the technical playground known as cars and coaches right at the Luisenhütte. Closed on Mondays, except public holidays, visitors – and admission is free. “Kleine Luise” or Little Luise. It supports the preservation of and also between 1st November and 30th April the smelt mill with enormous commitment and is also in- By train Balve station and Sanssouci station on the volved in operating the mill. The society promotes cultural railway line Fröndenberg to Neuenrade. Train schedule: Free admission on the following days events at the Luisenhütte and organises guided tours every www.bahn.de International Museum Day, Open Monument Day last Sunday in the month, free of charge. And once a year LUISENHÜTTE LUISE’S HEATING UP there is an invitation to an interesting talk given at its gen- Bus stop Helle: 132, 137 towards Balve and Balve- To get info or book guided tours eral meeting. Why not become a member of the Friends’ So- Eisborn, Mondays to Fridays only. Tel. +49(0)2352 966-7034 SMELT MILL WOCKLUM ciety Luisenhütte as well? Bus schedule: www.mvg-online.de Info at weekends and on public holidays: Fire, water, earth, air, red-hot iron and the ring of the Tel. +49(0)2375 3134 (May to October) A unique gem of pre-industrial iron-making is to be anvil – many associations to the Luisenhütte smelt Citizens’ bus (Bürgerbus) Balve No. 3, bus stop Helle, [email protected] found right in the middle of the Sauerland region. The mill are condensed to an overall work of art at the cul- only Mondays to Fridays and on Saturday mornings. www.maerkischer-kreis.de/kultur-freizeit/luisenhuette/ smelt mill in Balve-Wocklum is operated by water pow- ture festival known as “Luise heizt ein”, which trans- Schedule: www.mvg-online.de er and charcoal and still fully preserved. Founded in lates as “Luise’s heating up”! This popular annual event Combined tickets 1748 and shut down in 1865, the Luisenhütte smelt mill has been held since 2006, usually just before the sum- The admission tickets are also valid for the Balve Municipal is a national heritage monument. In the interactive mu- mer holidays. Harmonious light art, stunning theatre Museum for Prehistoric and Early History situated adjacent seum you experience with all your senses how iron was productions, temperamental musical compositions to the Luisenhütte smelt mill. smelted and made into cast products. Round off your and imaginative acrobatics appeal to all the senses. Children’s Halloween visit in the “Hüttenschänke” tavern, at the “Kleine Thematically related educational museum events are At the end of October, the Luisenhütte is a great venue Balve Municipal Museum for Prehistoric and Early History Luise” adventure playground, and with cave bears and also on offer with entertaining hands-on activities for for children to celebrate Halloween. You only get onto is located in the building of the former Wocklum rod hammer dinosaurs at the Municipal Museum of Balve. children and teens. The festival is part of the “Live in the guest-list if you book in advance. The number of mill at the Luisenhütte LUISENHÜTTE the Factory” programme jointly initiated by the net- young guests is limited to 100 children aged between Opening hours as for the Luisenhütte work “WaterIronLand – Industrial Culture in South eight and twelve. At the spooky party, it is critical not to For information or to book guided tours: SmELT MIll WOCKLUM Westphalia”. Admission is free! lose your nerves when the smelt mill sinks into eerie Tel. +49(0)2375 9372841 (May to October) darkness and mist forms inside. Horrors can lurk behind Förderverein Luisenhütte e.V. Tel. +49(0)2375 9372838 (November to April) every corner. The scary circuit is equipped with lots of Widukindplatz 1 [email protected] WATER, STEAM technical refinements. Any- D-58802 Balve AND RED-HOT IRON one wanting something to Tel. +49 (0) 2375 926-107 Published by eat and drink can fortify Fax +49 (0) 2375 926-160 Märkischer Kreis Administrative District themselves at the “Horror E-Mail: [email protected] Der Landrat (District Commissioner) Bar” with food and bever- Culture & Tourism Department – Museums ages to suit the occasion. Fritz-Thomée Str. 80 And the kids can of course D-58762 Altena come dressed up! EXPERIENCE A SHIFT MUSEUM EDUCATION EXPERIENCE PLAYGROUND BAlvE MUNICIPAL MUSEUM IN THE SMELTING MILL LITTLE LUISE FOR PREHISTORIC AND Programmes that can be Booked at any Time EARLY HISTORY The visitors’ tour follows the route the raw materials “From Iron Ore to Waffle Iron” is the name of an action- took through the mill. Incoming supplies were con- packed programme for school classes and children’s trolled and recorded by the mill clerk in his little office. birthdays. The children follow the progress of iron from Beside the Luisenhütte smelt mill, in the former rod At the iron-ore stores, visitors can lift wheelbarrows ore to the finished product. In the process, they take on forging hammer mill in Wocklum, the Balve Municipal filled with iron ore, charcoal and limestone. It gets re- the role of mill-hands. The “Fire and Tin Workshop” is Museum for Prehistoric and Early History offers a jour- ally warm above the mouth of the furnace where a film another experience that is exciting for small groups and ney through 400 million years into the past. Under the shows mill-hands charging the furnace from above. children’s birthdays. Guided tours for adults can also be motto “Treasures of the Earth – Traces of Mankind” the LUISENHÜTTE Ten metres below, the process of tapping the raw iron, booked – they are ideal for combining with a tour exhibition gives insights into natural and human history SMELT MILL WOCKLUM called pig, is convincingly simulated by lighting effects, around the lovely “Schloss Wocklum” mansion. Every in the Hönnetal – the valley where the River Hönne flows. radiators and film scenes: red-hot iron flows into the last Sunday of the month, the Friends’ Society offers “HÜTTENSCHÄNKE” MILL TAVERN Theme islands present the main periods and turning WATER, STEAM AND RED-HOT IRON pig bed. In the blower house, the water-wheel for free tours at 2 p.m. and at 4 p.m. – only the admission points – from the Devonian Age, when Balve was still at generating wind and the steam-powered blower are fee has to be paid. The former labourers’ dwelling at the Luisenhütte smelt mill the bottom of a shallow tropical sea, to iron-making in Luisenhütte Smelt Mill started up with much noise by pressing a button. Light is now used as the Mill Tavern. The simple but hearty atmos- the Middle Ages. The museum also shows how people Water power and charcoal were the energy sources for the pre- installations in the casting house make sure you get After their visit to the Luisenhütte smelt mill, families with phere welcomes guests to coffee and cake, ice cream and have benefited up to the present time from the “earth’s industrial Luisenhütte smelt mill which went into operation in the impression of smelting furnaces in operation and MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCE children simply have to stop at “Kleine Luise”. On this indus- snacks. Directly in front of the main building there is a beer treasures” in Balve. The exhibits bear witness to the 1758. In 1854/55 the aristocratic entrepreneurial von Landsberg- of having just cast gear wheels and other iron castings. trial playground, young visitors can relive what they have garden which is open whenever the weather is fine enough. trans-regional significance of Balve as a discovery site Velen family modernised their ironworks with the very latest Finally, the experience can be deepened in the earlier seen in the industrial monument on a fun level. The central From there you can keep an eye on the industrial playground for prehistoric and early historical finds. The remains of technology at the time. The smelting furnace was enlarged, a mill foreman’s accommodation.