On 5 August 2009, stainless steel manufacturer ThyssenKrupp Nirosta can look back on 50 years of production at its Dillenburg site. The plant, then owned by Siegen-based “Stahlwerke Südwestfalen AG”, started operations in 1959. Gerhard Beermann was mayor of Dillenburg at the time and gave his support to the construction of the plant for two main reasons: firstly the anticipated “significant increase” in trade tax revenue and secondly the creation of attractive jobs. One-hundred and twenty employees were originally taken on in Dillenburg. The start-up of the stainless steel plant also attracted attention from beyond the town’s boundaries: The official opening ceremony on 5 August 1959 was attended by the entire cabinet of the state of Hesse, led by the then State Premier Dr Georg August Zinn, and prompted newspapers to report on “A great day in the history of Dillenburg”. In 1975 Krupp acquired a majority shareholding in Stahlwerke Südwestfalen AG, and the Dillenburg site is today part of ThyssenKrupp Nirosta GmbH, which was established in 2002. Extensive investments have been made at the Dillenburg site in recent years: In 1999 the new bright annealing line went into operation. The foundation stone for the new warehouse and dispatch center was laid in 2004. An acid regeneration plant was installed three years ago to reduce the volume of wastewater. Today, the Dillenburg cold rolling mill mainly produces thin austenitic stainless steel, processing raw coils produced at the Krefeld and Bochum mills.
