History
In 1890, iron mill baron Freiherr Carl Ferdinand von Stumm-Halberg acquired 24 hectares of land in Uckange, France, and constructed four blast furnaces over the next eight years. By 1904, the number of furnaces had increased to six. After World War I, they were confiscated and handed over to the “Societe Anonyme des Forges et des Acieries de Nord et Lorraine.” By 1965, the site had four furnaces once again, with the second furnace being shut down. Uckange became part of the Saulness iron mill and continued operation as in the 1930s. A lift transported materials to the top of the twin-coned blast furnace. Plans for overhauling U4 were made in 1976 but postponed until 1988 due to declining steel demand. In 1991, the blast furnace was permanently shut down. The site still features administrative buildings, a blast house, boiler house, workshops, and weighing houses.
The old blast furnace site is surrounded by housing for mill workers, and Uckange includes the mansion that belonged to the Stumm family. Nearby Hayange showcases the historical proximity of worker dwellings and directors’ villas to the family chapel and graveyard of the de Wendel iron mill dynasty. The central office of the de Wendel family was located in a mansion with a clock and images of tools used in the iron and steel industry on its round gable. Above them all stands a seven-meter-tall statue of the Holy Virgin donated by the de Wendel family to Cote des Vignes, overseeing the iron works and housing estates of the Fensch valley.
