Vysoká pec v Šindelové Other

The wooden high furnace in Šindelová is a technical monument located in the Krušné Mountains near the western edge of the village Šindelová in the district of Sokolov in the Karlovy Vary Region. Its history dates back to the 14th century, when iron ores began to be extracted and processed in the region. Iron ore has benefited from the extinct settlements at the present-day Rotava, Shindel, Vysoké Pec and Tis near Nedek.

Iron ore has proven to have benefited and processed since the beginning of agricultural and mining colonization in the 13th century for the reign of King Václav I. The monuments to the beginnings of this industry have disappeared as new technologies have been promoted over time. The evidence of older technological facilities either disappeared completely or underwent major reconstructions. One of the few standing technical monuments associated with the metallurgical production is the wood-fired blast furnace in Shindelová.

The monument is comparable, for example, with an extremely well-preserved wood-burning furnace in Jins, Brdy, or with a torsion of the old smelter at Adam's in Blanensk. The first mention of the iron hams in Shindelová is from the middle of the 14th century and is related to the acquisition of the right to read-out by Plk of Plkištejn, then owner of the Jindrichovik estate. However, the expansion of iron production occurred only after the downturn in non-ferrous metal ore mining in the late 16th century. This was probably related to the high consumption of wood for metallurgical purposes, the supply of which was previously primarily directed towards the extraction and processing of precious metal ores, especially silver.

In Šindelová, the expansion of the iron production is linked to the arrival of Nostice, into whose hands the estate was transferred in 1627. Nestice's railway plants, which included operations in Shindelová and Rotava, were in operation until 1909 when the connection with Petzold's ironworks in Nedek took place. In 1839 a metal mill was built in the furnaces. Another modernization of the huti complex took place in the years 1858-1859, when the tall furnace with adjacent buildings acquired a new architectural character.

The economic crisis in the 1970s also reached Shindel. The wood-based blast furnace for the production of pig iron was stopped in 1873 for unprofitability, but other plants remained there, e.g. the mill of fine sheet metal and foundry. The production of sheet metal in particular proved to be viable and thus the rolling mills were modernised at the end of the 19th century. During the First World War, they produced shell shells, tin cans and other war materials. During the First World War, the company was the only one in the monarchy who produced a tin tin from which all Austrian cans were made.

The crisis in the 1930s ended production of most products, only the metal mill continued. In Shindelová there was also a metal-metal-plate hamr and in the first half of the 18th century it was started with tin-tin. The beginnings of this technology are associated with Krušnohoří. Further expansion of operation took place in the 2nd half of the 18th century, when the operation of the wooden blast furnace, probably the second one, was documented by 1757, and the subsequent construction of another hamrus on sheet metal.

The main important events in the history of the blast furnace in Šindelová are linked to the year 1818 when a new blast furnace was built, whose torso was preserved. The newly built blast furnace contained 120 centrires (approximately 7,400 kg) of melting. The furnace produced 40 centimeters (approximately 2,450 kg) of pig iron daily. The nearby second kiln was replaced by tin and accompanying plants. The oven itself had an outer shell made of granite blocks, drawn by steel bolts. Its height was approximately 11 m In the building of the high kiln was built a blower, a freight elevator and a hill, all powered by a water wheel.

This wheel was also driven by a standing step on the slag. The water was brought in by the drive. The building of the foundry was connected to the body of the furnace, where there were casting bagels of pig iron and finished products such as cast iron stove. The massive stone crackers in the outer wall of the kiln carried a wooden cross of the foundry. At the construction sites in the surrounding area, we can often meet cast slag bricks.

The blast furnace is 11 metres high in the chamber, embossed from stone blocks and on top of bricks and slag blocks. In the front, there is a niche in the oven, which was originally followed by the extension of the foundry. There's a second niche on the right side with an exhaust with air blower. Behind the kiln is a torso of the building preparation of the bet, built using the same material as the own kiln. Between the two constructions there was a drive with a water wheel to drive the machine parts of the rod, over the drive there is a bridge for weighing the furnace.

The monument has been protected as a real-estate cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 1963. Since 1939, the operation was restored for war purposes, production stopped until 16 June 1945. After World War II, production was no longer restored and production facilities were dismantled, which meant the end of the local hardware tradition. By the time the whole area was declared a cultural monument, it was used by the National Enterprise State Farm, the Lower Niva plant. The facility served as a hay and warehouse. After the collapse of the part of the building was carried out a construction focus, which captures the last phase of technical but also architectural condition. During the completion of the measuring work, the owner was compared to the ground by a large part of the complex. It only preserved the torso-exposed high kilns from granite blocks. Almost nothing remains of the adjacent ports. Only the remains of the machinery room and the building where the water wheel was originally located and a short section of the drive are preserved on the sides of the furnace. Only circumferential masonry to the crown level was preserved from the building.

Today, the wood-burning furnace in Šindelová is an important technical monument, which reminds of the difficult work of the former inhabitants of the Krušné hora. Its history is linked to the expansion of iron production in the region, which began in the middle of the 14th century. The monument is protected as a real cultural monument of the Czech Republic and is worth visiting for its unique architectural solution and historical importance.