The Hendrichs Drop Forge in Solingen is around 120 years old — until it ceased production in 1986 scissors were made here for the local cutlery industry.

Hendrichs Drop Forge, Solingen, Germany (picture: LVR Museum)

Two months after it was closed, the LVR Industrial Museum took over the complete site including the buildings and technical equipment. Even the employees stayed, in fact, and nowadays they take visitors on guided tours through the drop forge or demonstrate how scissors have been made with the drop hammer.

Around the turn to the twentieth century Solingen was known as “the workshop of the world”. Every year millions of scissors, knives and weapons were
turned out here. Steel goods have been produced in this area since the Middle Ages. The environment was ideal as there were almost inexhaustible supplies of ore. The nearby woods and forests ensured there was enough fuel to keep the fires burning, and the River Wupper and its many tributaries provided the necessary hydraulic power for all the forging and grinding operations.

The introduction of drop forging techniques helped Solingen to grow to its position as the world’s largest producer of scissors. The Hendrichs factory
contained 33 drop hammers, which made it the largest drop forge in the area. The forging dies themselves came from its own workshops, and in addition the factory contained a grinding works for processing the moulded blanks into finished tools. In this way it was able to house both of Solingen’s key industries under a single roof.