The first idea of establishing an ironworks in Dvor dates back to 1763, when Prince Heinrich of Auersperg first applied for a concession. He was unable to obtain a permission to construct it because of opposition from the owners of other ironworks in Carniola, who feared competition. After 31 long years, it was only his son, Prince Wilhelm of Auersperg of Kočevje, who managed to do so. The reasons for the establishment of the ironworks in Dvor were the entrepreneurship of the Auersperg family, who owned extensive land in the area, the hydropower provided by the Krka River, the extensive forests in the immediate vicinity of Dvor, the iron ore deposits in Lower Carniola (Dolenjska) Region and the availability of workforce.
On 6 February 1795, Prince Wilhelm of Auersperg (finally) obtained a granted concession from Vienna and construction works commenced. However, because the works proceeded slowly, pig iron first flowed from the blast furnace only a year later, on 17 April 1796. Production immediately exceeded expectations. The ironworks buildings were built on the banks of the Krka River, and water was used to power bellows for blowing air into the blast furnace and kilns, to drive sledgehammers, to wash and crush ore, and to power machines in the mechanical workshops, wood lathes, grinders, saws and pumps.
With the advent of the water-powered double drum blower, which was built in Dvor, iron ore production was even faster. The quality and quantity of pig iron produced have also increased significantly. This allowed the Dvor Ironworks to expand and modernise. In 1804, the Dvor Ironworks became the first ironworks in the whole of the then Slovenian territory to smelt cast iron directly from the blast furnace.
The Dvor Ironworks: Unrivalled in the Whole of Carniola
After the abolition of the Illyrian provinces, the iron manufacturing industry in Carniola fell into a severe crisis. In March 1817, the management of the Dvor Ironworks reduced the number of employees from 216 to 92, and the total production of iron dropped sharply from 493 to 143 tonnes. The drastic cuts were caused by competition from English and Swedish iron in Italy and the Middle East, which was 20% cheaper. Nevertheless, from 1820 to the mid-19th century, the Dvor Ironworks had no real competition in Carniola, as it was the only iron foundry that dominated the domestic market, as well as the markets in Italy and Croatia.
In 1822, the dilapidated blast furnace was rebuilt and raised by 2.5 metres, and two years later, two more cupola furnaces with a height of over three metres high were built. They enabled pig iron from the blast furnace to be melted directly into cast iron. The cupola furnaces enabled a significantly higher production of quality cast iron, and the transformation of the Dvor Ironworks from a classical ironworks to a large iron foundry was complete. During this period, a limestone and slag crusher, a sledgehammer, a crane for carrying heavier products and a new material storage building were also acquired. In the 1830s, the Dvor Iron Foundry again employed between 220 and 250 workers and produced between 392 and 448 tonnes of pig iron, foundry and other products annually. It has thus become the largest and even the only foundry in the whole area south of the Alps.
As such, it struggled to meet the great number of orders it received from home and abroad. Its products were abroad mainly sold in Italy and Croatia. In 1835, it also had three warehouses: in Ljubljana (in Auersperg’s Princely Court), in Trieste and in Venice. In Dvor, the quality of the products was ensured by well-trained employees, who came mainly from the Styrian lands. The Dvor Iron Foundry also employed a large number of miners, foresters, charcoal-burners and carriage drivers, who were exclusively locals. Until the middle of the 19th century, there was no iron foundry in Carniola that was comparable to the one in Dvor in terms of technology, quality and quantity of the products produced and the number of workers. On 13 March 1836, it was therefore granted the status of a privileged ironworks at provincial level.
Poor Management and the Emergence of competition Led to an Inglorious End
On 9 August 1836, the Dvor Ironworks was hit hard by the death of its most successful director, Ignatz Vitus Engelbert Pantz. Owner Auersperg has not had a lucky hand in choosing his successor. In the years that followed, a lack of management experience and poor business decisions by Pantz’s successors led to the deterioration of many factory buildings and installations. The lack of even basic maintenance work has led to a sharp decline in the quality of pig iron and iron products. Irregular payments also caused the workers’ eagerness and productivity to dwindle.
In addition, in the second half of the 19th century, the Dvor Iron-Foundry also found a competitor in the Rosthorn Ironworks in Prevalje in Carinthia, which mainly produced rails, axles and railway wheels. Foundries in Bohinjska Bistrica (producing pinions, hydro turbines, rings and pistons for steam engines, sewer equipment and iron railings) and in Gradac in White Carniola (Bela Krajina) (producing mainly semi-finished products made of iron, and ammunition) were also put into operation. The Dvor Ironworks did not undergo any major technological development in the second half of the 19th century.
Moreover, in 1870, before the great banking crisis in the Habsburg Monarchy, it was still fully operational. It continued to produce agricultural machinery and tools, mining and ironworks machinery, mill machinery, etc. However, by this time there already operated 27 competing iron foundries in the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Many other iron foundries in the monarchy already had railway connections to their markets, but in Dvor, raw materials and products still had to be transported by horse-drawn carts. However, the status of the Dvor Ironworks deteriorated drastically after the foundation of the Austrian-Alpine Coal, Iron and Steel Industry Company in Vienna in 1881. In a very short time, it dominated the ironworks industry in the whole of Inner Austria and, with its performance and diversification of iron industry, dictated the direction of development in this industry and thus the fate of the existence of other iron foundries.
The Dvor Ironworks managed to keep up with the competition for only about six years before it finally lost power. Due to competitors using more modern assets and because of outdated transport connections made the production much more expensive, and this was the main reason for the final collapse of this once leading Carniolan iron foundry. On 1 October 1891, the Dvor Ironworks officially ceased operations altogether. For Dvor and the surrounding area, its closure was a severe economic blow, leaving many people jobless. This was followed by increased migrations from the area. For ten years after the closure of the foundry, the inhabitants of Dvor quietly hoped that production would resume, at least to a limited extent, but in the end it never came about.
Predominantly Artistic Pieces and Useful Products
Throughout its history, the Dvor Iron Foundry has produced a wide variety of mainly artistic pieces and useful products. For example, they produced 94 different types of machines, machine parts, tools, kitchenware, irons, stoves, roof tiles, tomb crosses, railings and weights, and they also cast 89 different types of artistic castings for personal, domestic and ecclesiastical use (imperial and royal coats of arms, religious and ancient reliefs, writing instruments, clock and iron bases, candlesticks, jewellery, etc.). The production of artistic cast iron products, such as tombstones, decorated stoves, railings, window grilles, fountains, etc., was a special feature of the Dvor Ironworks.
Its products were not drastically different in shape from those of other renowned foundries across Europe. As early as 1820, naval cannons were being cast according to English models. The products were also labelled in Dvor, most famously with the HOF IN KRAIN signature. The products of the Dvor Iron Foundry were distinguished at three industrial and trade exhibitions of the Inner Austrian states and were unrivalled among the hardware products in Slovenia. In 1833, they also cast the one-metre-high coat of arms of the Auersperg princes in Dvor for the façade of the health spa building in Dolenjske Toplice.
Round and square coal and wood-fired stoves formed an important part of the production of the Dvor Ironworks. They had 14 different stove models in stock. In addition to these, cannons of various calibres, ammunition, boilers, pots for cookers, kitchen and other bowls, cooker plates, cemented ballasts, kitchen mortars, door jambs, plumbing tubes and sewer covers were cast. Two thirds of total production was devoted to cast products.
Sources:
- Pungerčar, Majda. 2021. Na Dvoru ulita umetnost. Novo mesto: Dolenjski muzej.
- Šorn, Jože. 1980. Železarna na Dvoru pri Žužemberku: zgodovina, tehnologija, izdelki. Novo mesto: Dolenjski muzej.
- Žargi, Matija. 2000. Železarna na Dvoru ob Krki. Novo mesto: Dolenjska založba.
Prejšnja objava: Ljudska balada o detomorilki: slovenske in kočevarske različice.
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