An unusual challenge has recently been faced by the operating installations of the blast furnace, steel plant and rail rolling mill at the ArcelorMittal Poland unit in Dąbrowa Górnicza. For years it has been working in an industrial setting, with craftsmanship precision, producing hot metal, steel and then rails. Now they could appear on the small screen becoming the main characters of the film for the Metallurgy Museum in Chorzów. The 8-minute production will be part of the permanent exhibition.
In the post-industrial area at Metalworkers street in Chorzów first museum in Poland devoted to the iron and steel industry will open at the end of the year. The permanent exhibition takes place in historic buildings, including in the hall of the over 100-year-old Huta Kościuszko power plant next to the operating unit of ArcelorMittal Poland in Chorzów.
Steel production is not only a tradition of this region but also the future. After all, without steel there would be no wind farms and photovoltaic farms, it would be impossible to build energy storage, power plants or cars - including electric cars. It would also be difficult to build skyscrapers, bridges or even houses. Without steel it is impossible to decarbonize the industry, which is why existing steel plants are so important for the changes that await us.
- We are glad that in the immediate vicinity of our plant there will be a place commemorating and appreciating the industry so important for the Polish economy, which is metallurgy - emphasizes Ireneusz Góral, director of the ArcelorMittal Poland unit in Chorzów. - We strongly supported this project from the very beginning and donated a few exhibits to the museum. We also share our history, the history of our employees and their families - he adds.
Metallurgy through the lens. Camera - action!
The Metallurgy Museum is a complex with an area of over 2.5 thousand square meters which will include - among others - the permanent exhibition "Kingdom of Iron" includes machines, archival photographs, souvenirs and recordings with memories of former steelworkers.
- The exhibition is extremely rich because apart from large exhibits, such as metallurgical machines, we also have smaller objects in showcases telling about the great metallurgical past, photos, drawings, historical plans and souvenirs given to us by institutions and private persons - says Adam Kowalski, director of the Museum of Metallurgy in Chorzów. - It is a truly unique collection, valuable not only in terms of history but also emotionally. Each of these traces of the past plays an important role in the history of metallurgy in Upper Silesia and the present Polish lands - he adds.
The entire exhibition has been divided into a prologue, a work zone and a life zone - showing free time and the family life of steelworkers. The cinema hall plays an important role in the entire layout of the exhibition.
First slap - let the hot metal pour
It is in the cinema zone that an 8-minute film will be presented, in which one of the main roles will be played by the interior of the working ArcelorMittal Poland steel plant in Dąbrowa Górnicza.
First, the process of smelting hot metal in a blast furnace will be shown, then how the most important thing - steel is made from this hot metal and scrap. The shots were also shot in the large rolling mill in Dąbrowa Górnicza. It is here that the 120-meter high-speed rails are produced.
- I am very happy that Huta Królewska has such an honourable new neigbour as the Metallurgical Museum in Chorzów, and that our unit in Dąbrowa Górnicza has played a part in the recording, which will be presented at the permanent exhibition. It will be an important place on the map of Silesia not only for people associated with our industry. The facility will also preserve the memory of the steel industry, which is an inseparable part of the Polish economy and the heritage of the Silesian land. It is very important to cultivate this heritage for future generations, from which we also hope to recruit new generations of steelworkers - says Sanjay Samaddar, chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal Poland.
Metallurgy Museum in Chorzów is funded by the city and the EU subsidy, which is the greatest support for the cultural sector in the history of the city. The facility will be opened this year. Currently, the last preparations for the opening of the exhibition are underway at the Museum.
- It will be an extraordinary event for our city. In addition to the fact that the museum will be a huge tourist attraction of our city, it will also be a monument to the work of thousands of residents of Chorzów, who have often spent several dozen years of their lives here. In Chorzów, we remember well our metallurgical roots. At the roundabout in the city center, there is a hammer, which worked for years in Huta Batory, we are celebrating Saint Florian's Day loudly, and now we will have such a special facility. Now, I cordially invite everyone to visit the Metallurgy Museum - summarizes Andrzej Kotala, mayor of Chorzów.
