Ensemble “Steam engine”

This tandem-compound steam engine, commissioned in 1908 and manufactured in 1909 was originally capable of producing approximately 400 kW, whereas the flywheel generator was designed to produce 625 kW. In this combination, the machine provided a portion of the electricity for the H. Fuchs Waggonfabrik AG (Fuchs Coach Factory) in (Heidelberg-)Rohrbach. Once the factory was able to draw electricity from the larger hydroelectric plant on the Murg river in Baden, in-house coal-fired electricity production was deemed no longer economically viable. For this reason, the ensemble was sold to W. Döllken & Co. GmbH in Werden an der Ruhr in 1920.

The machine remained in use with its new owner until 1963. In 1923, the company’s senior director Ernst Simon ordered that it be converted to allow for the full power output to be used. During the conversion the high-pressure cylinder was replaced, a lantern was added and the lubrication system was automated. At the same time, Ernst Simon improved the output of his steam boiler, with which he converted the factory’s waste wood into steam. Patented both domestically and internationally, and sold worldwide as “Sparfeuerung Döllken” (Döllken feed) the technology achieved some prominence.

Persecuted as Jews by the National Socialists, Ernst Simon and his family had to sell the business in 1938. Ernst fled to the USA, however his brother and co-owner, along with other family members were murdered – some in Bergen-Belsen, others in Auschwitz.

The steam engine is a valuable heritage-listed witness to the industrial culture of the Rheinland and Westfalia regions. It was relocated to the TECHNOSEUM in 1987, where it can still be seen regularly “chugging along”.