Big blast furnace

Big blast furnace was originally part of the New Bytom Steelworks buildings named“Pokoj”. The steelworks were founded in 1840 by merchandisers Dawid Löwenfeld,Moritz Friedlander and Szymon Löwi under the name „Friedens Eisenhütte”.Dynamic development of the company quickly made the steelwork the biggest of itskind in the region. In 1871 the plant was taken over by “Oberbedarf” holding (“Oberschelsische Eisenbahn Bedarfs Aktien Gesellschaft”) which was connected tothe Ballestrems, a well-established family in the industry.

In 1907 the steelwork possessed six blast furnaces. This was where Tadeusz Sendzimir invented hisprocess of cold rolling, an innovation consisting of steel being simultaneously rolled and stretched. Sendzimir’s idea was adopted worldwide, giving him recognition and accelerating his career. In postwar times, New Bytom’s steelwork was the largest metallurgical plant in Poland. The most characteristic part of the premises are the buildings located by Niedurny Street.