The lovingly restored Luisenhütte is a modern and visitor-oriented experience museum. The museum vividly shows how iron was produced and processed into cast products in the Luisenhütte, involving all the senses.
A tour with all the senses
The tour follows the path of the raw materials through the plant. From the clerk's cottage, the tour heads to the Möllerboden. Here, visitors lift wheelbarrows loaded with iron ore, charcoal and limestone themselves. Radiant heaters generate heat above the furnace opening of the blast furnace. A historical sound film shows how the ironworkers filled the furnace from above. Ten meters below, at the open furnace breast, the tapping of the pig iron is effectively simulated with a light show and further heat radiators and sound film clips: The red-hot iron flows into the ingot bed. Right next to the blast furnace, there were even break rooms for the ironworkers in the tapping hall. In the blower house, the water wheel with the piston blowers and the blower steam engine can be noisily put into operation. Further light installations in the iron foundry create the impression that melting furnaces are in production and that gears and other castings have just been cast.
A visit to the Platzknecht
Finally, you can deepen your experience in the former Platzknecht's apartment. Here you can watch the film "Fire stream of iron" and an interactive computer simulation that shows all the production steps in three dimensions. Four models compare the most important smelting techniques since the Middle Ages. Finally, a small ancestral gallery briefly tells the exciting story of the Count von Landsberg-Velen family, who ran the company.
Museum education
In addition to the group tours, there are special educational programs for children. The programs "From iron ore to waffle iron" and the "Fire and tin" workshop are suitable for school classes and children's birthday parties. There is a geocaching multicache around the Luisenhütte. Those interested can borrow GPS devices from the hut tavern and go on a digital scavenger hunt with the help of a flyer.
Duration of visit and combined ticket
You should allow around one to one and a half hours for a visit to the Luisenhütte Wocklum. The admission ticket is also valid for a visit to the Museum of Prehistory and Early History of the town of Balve in the former rod hammer of the Luisenhütte. Under the motto "Earth Treasures - Traces of Man", the museum provides an insight into the exciting and varied natural and human history of the Hönnetal. Further information about the Museum of Prehistory and Early History can be found here.
Combined guided tours of the Luisenhütte and Schloss Wocklum. Further information and inquiries here: Guided tours of the Luisenhütte and Schloss Wocklum
A general overview of events (forging courses, vacation activities) is available here: Events in and around the Luisenhütte
The Luisenhütte is an anchor point on the valley route of the European Route of Industrial Heritage and an attraction of WasserEisenLand.
The Luisenhütte is closed from November 1 to April 30. It will reopen on May 1, 2023.