HÜTTENWERK

In the organizer's words:

The ore came by rail from the Kazakh steppe, the coal from Poland. Women, who were indispensable to the GDR steel industry, often worked on the cranes, locomotives and blast furnaces. The steel went from Eisenhüttenstadt to the factories and ports of the West to be sold for foreign currency.

In spring 2026, a train with six-axle flat wagons travels through Germany, loaded with tons of slabs, steel beams and coils. On and in the wagons, the HÜTTENWERK railroad theater provides an insight into the flagship industry of the time and its connections to the West. Twenty former workers reported on their experiences in the ironworks combine for the documentary play.

As a partner project in the Post-West program area during Impulse 2026, this extraordinary production will make a stop under the decommissioned Blast Furnace 5 for the only dates in NRW. The performance is also suitable for young people from year 9 and brings together the history of fire, foreign exchange and steel that connects workers between Eisenhüttenstadt and the Ruhr region to this day.