Cultural and natural heritage of humanity - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1996 - 100 Pfennig

The Alte Völklinger Hütte, ironmaking sector, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1994. This is a remarkable process for UNESCO and its committees, because with the blast furnace ensemble, an object was added to the list for the first time for its industrial value alone. The Alte Völklinger Hütte, founded in the last quarter of the 19th century, documents in a very small area a pig iron production plant which, although in operation until 1986, can already be described as historic today. The plants that have survived embody a world of industrial work and production that has already been lost elsewhere as technology and modernization progress. In addition to being able to illustrate the process of large-scale pig iron production on the basis of original equipment, the Völklingen site has also been able to preserve monuments of outstanding significance in terms of the history of technology. The blower house with its machinery, the dry gas cleaning, the monorail systems and the sintering plant document as technical inventions each innovative pioneering achievements of their time, which partly influenced the pig iron production world-wide. In their original state of preservation, they are tangible milestones in the history of technology. The Alte Völklinger Hütte - at times the most important employer in the Saarland iron and steel industry by far - has continuously and decisively influenced the development of the Saar-Lor-Lux region. It has significantly shaped the economic, social and cultural identity of the Saarland. (Text: City Völklingen)