From zero to 500,000 m² - 390 years Nickelhuette Aue

On February 20, 1635, the Niederpfannenstiel blue dye works was founded by Veit Hans Schnorr the Elder in the Schönburg territory near Aue. This makes it to one of the oldest German metallurgical plants.

Today, 390 years later, we look back on this historic moment. Even back then, the blue dye works processed cobalt, which was notorious as a „silver robber“, and was initially stockpiled together with the barren rock. So you could say that a kind of recycling was already taking place back then.

Those were the beginnings of today's Nickelhuette Aue. Originally built on a green field, our factory premises have grown to an impressive 500,000 m².

picture source: ERZ-Foto/Georg Ulrich Dostmann