The Neue Hütte is a blast furnace dating from 1835 in which local iron ore was smelted into pig iron on a charcoal basis until 1924. With its construction and technical equipment, the blast furnace represents a link between the medieval racing fire and the modern coke blast furnace. It is one of the last examples of this technology in Central Europe. Listed as a historical monument in 1950, the town of Schmalkalden acquired the facility for museum purposes. The museum was opened on October 3, 1989. In the smelter building next to the original blast furnace itself, the exhibition presents the technology of charcoal-based pig iron production. Other outbuildings supplement topics such as mining analysis, charcoal production, mineralogy and the reconstructed functioning hydroelectric power plant. The former charcoal sheds house modern exhibitions on the almost 1300-year history of the development of iron and steel production in the Schmalkalden region, the well-known "Schmalkalder articles". From 1956 to 1990, they were sold under the brand name "Smalcalda".

Pig iron production technology

Equipped with a 9.60-metre-high blast furnace, the "Neue Hütte" embodied the latest in charcoal-based smelting technology when it was built in 1835. To drive the waterwheel, the water from the Schmalkalde river was partially diverted above the plant via a weir system and led through an artificial ditch to the blast furnace house in the wheelhouse. The water wheel moved a cylinder blower (piston pump). The air sucked in by the blower was compressed and heated in the hot blast stove before being fed into the furnace via pipes through nozzles. This reduced charcoal consumption and ensured continuous production of liquid pig iron. The combustible blast furnace gases were used to heat the fresh air. The blast furnace produced around 4 to 5 tons of pig iron in 24 hours with a continuous melting cycle, consuming around 10 tons of ore and aggregates and 5 tons of charcoal. The material for filling the furnace was pulled up to the furnace via a belt-driven elevator. In 1921, a turbine system was integrated into the water supply to ensure the power supply for the ironworks, a nearby chip mill and the mine on the Stahlberg near Trusetal.