Master Student in Geography at the University of Luxembourg between 2015 and 2017.
The siderurgical era
Between 1909 and 1912, the company Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks A.G. built a brand new steelworks at Esch-sur-Alzette: the factory Adolf-Emil.
In 1911, the company ARBED (Aciéries Réunies de Burbach-Eich-Dudelange) was created by the merger and acquisition of the 3 largest steelworks in Luxembourg.
In 1994, ARBED decided to change its type of steel production for long products (such as sheet piling) at its sites in Luxembourg. The steel production moved from produced from iron ore with blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces using recycled steel.
With the closing of the last blast furnace in Esch-Belval in July 1997, 120 hectares (approximatively 300 acres) were available for a reconversion process, offering a place with a high economic development for the country and the whole southern region.