Citizen "Prussia" Town hall – 1840

New times, new fortune. Foresighted people adopted this motto and recognized the sign of the times and submitted to new circumstances. Especially in the Ruhr region, which turned towards the Prussian state and its values as its coal production increased and the iron industry flourished. While heavy industry established itself on the Ruhr, smelting iron in the Eifel disappeared after centuries of tradition. Not being connected to the railway system meant that the Eifel soon lost its economic significance. Entrepreneurs deserted the area, as did some former iron-workers, or else they turned to other industries or farming.

A report from 1829 underlines the important status of iron production in the Rhine province:
"Superbly rich in iron and the steel related to it..are the regional districts which have the greatest amounts, namely Koblenz, Aachen and Trier. The iron mines in  Upper Bergisches Land are also important, followed by those in the districts of Essen and Kleve. In both the latter districts iron ore is found on the surface,…otherwise iron is mined by means of shafts and tunnels, thereafter it is broken into pieces on a pile, mostly by boys, then melted down in smelting plants and forged in hammer mills… In the Rhine provinces there are 64 iron foundries. They produce more iron and steel than the Prussian Rhineland needs."
(Diesterweg, Dr. F. A. W.: Beschreibung der Preußischen Rheinprovinzen, Krefeld 1829, S. 87ff.)

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