Ravne na Koroškem in the 19th century

Abstract

The modern town of Ravne na Koroškem has developed from the medieval borough Gutenstein, surrounded with mansions Streiteben (Ravne), Javornik and Dobja vas. Several tradesmen worked in the borough, associated in a craft-guild, which was founded in the year 1749. With the development of the railway the number of inhabitants increased, and the factory built blocks of flats for their employees. The Thurn counts who invested their means into the development of non-agrarian economy, transformed in the beginning of the 19^th century the Streiteben iron foundry along the river Meža near Guštanj into ironworks and in the middle of the century modernised into a puddling and rolling mill. After two decades they introduced the production of smelting steel, and in the year 1881 smelting or cooking of steel in the Siemens-Martin furnace and thus set foundations to modern steel industry in Ravne na Koroškem. Across the industrially most developed region of the 19^th century, the railway Celovec-Maribor was built in 1863, which brought new changes in the economy and life of people.