Count Henrich von Stolberg-Wernigerode also recognized this. His family had been operating an iron foundry in Ilsenburg since the 16th century – initially with the help of experts from the Siegerland region. Now the migration was repeating itself in the opposite direction: ironworkers from the Harz region came to the Ruhr to smelt iron on behalf of the count.

Carl Roth, the first master smelter, used advanced Belgian technology to build the blast furnaces. It was probably also him who suggested naming the new plant after his client, who had died in February 1854. Despite several changes of ownership, the name Henrichshütte remained with the company until it was shut down.

As early as 1857, the Henrichshütte was sold to the Berliner Discontogesellschaft. The Berlin banking house initially invested in further expansion: in addition to four blast furnaces, coking plants and foundries, rolling mills and machining workshops were built. One of the last major construction projects was the construction of a modern Bessemer steelworks in 1872, now the oldest building on the grounds of the industrial museum. Shortly afterwards, the Henrichshütte was incorporated into the Dortmund Union for Mining, Iron, and Steel Industry. The associated loss of independence and integration into higher-level corporate structures, combined with the founding crisis that broke out in 1873, led to drastic changes in Hattingen: rail and river steel production had to be transferred to Dortmund – including the Bessemer steelworks, which had only just gone into operation. A period of stagnation began for the Henrichshütte.

However, the new factory facilities also allowed for larger dimensions: as early as 1907, steel castings weighing up to 50 tons were available for locomotive, machine, and shipbuilding, including roller stands, steam hammer parts, ship stems, ship propellers, rudders, and anchors. The forge and machining workshop supplied ship shafts, crankshafts, turbine shafts, and rollers. With the realignment and specialization of the smelting works, Henschel laid a solid foundation for the future. After the outbreak of World War I, the modern and efficient smelting works became part of the German Empire's “arms factory” for the first time. Until the end of the war, grenades, gun barrels, and special sheet metal were manufactured.

The end of the war in 1918 was followed by turbulent times. The continuing demand for railway equipment facilitated the return to peacetime production. In 1923, inflation and the occupation of the Ruhr led to the temporary closure of the steelworks, and the following years brought no economic improvement, so that Henschel finally parted ways with the Henrichshütte.

In 1930, the Henrichshütte was sold to Vereinigte Stahlwerke and incorporated into the newly founded Ruhrstahl AG. Nevertheless, the future of the Henrichshütte seemed far from secure, and just two years later, there was even talk of closing it down. By April 1933, only 1,492 people were still working at the steelworks – fewer than in 1905. In the wake of National Socialist economic policy and the start of arms production, the number of workers rose steadily in the 1930s. Once again, the Henrichshütte supplied high-quality steel for tank armor and gun barrels, and in 1939, it began manufacturing tank hulls for the Wehrmacht. The almost complete switch to arms production again required extensive expansion and modernization. The measures included the construction of blast furnace 3, which was fired up on October 10, 1940, and today forms the centerpiece of the LWL Industrial Museum.

With the establishment of a Gestapo detention camp in 1943, everyday terror took on a new dimension. Here, people were imprisoned under the harshest conditions and subjected to brutal treatment, and forced to work at the steelworks. By the end of the war, 36 people had died here – the actual number of victims is likely to be much higher.

The Henrichshütte was not unprepared for the increasing air raids in the final years of the war. Towards the end of the war, there was an extensive system of bunkers and air-raid shelters, underground passageways, and observation posts on the site. When American troops liberated Hattingen on April 16, 1945, a third of the factory facilities had been destroyed.

New analysis methods ensured product quality. Specialization in high-quality steels and the need to respond to specific demands and requirements necessitated corresponding research in the field of secondary metallurgy. One result was the “Ruhrstahl-Heraeus process” for the vacuum treatment of molten steel, which was developed at the Henrichshütte in 1958 and is now widely used.

The ongoing modernization and rationalization of the plants changed the work at the steelworks. In many areas, the individual experience of the steelworkers gave way to modern process control. This was evident, for example, in the reorganization of steel production: the continuous casting plant, which went into operation in 1967, eliminated several production steps in the previous slab production process and, as an important link between the steelworks and the rolling mill, brought about a significant rationalization push. Three years later, the commissioning of the new open-hearth furnace ended the era of Siemens-Martin furnaces, which had been producing steel at the mill since 1904.  With the commissioning of the electric steel mill, this modernization process was completed in 1976.

At the beginning of 1987, Thyssen Stahl AG announced the closure of the blast furnaces, the 4.2 m heavy plate mill, the electric steelworks, and the continuous casting plant, as well as the discontinuation of training operations at the Henrichshütte. This meant the imminent demise of the steelworks and the loss of almost 3,000 jobs and the majority of the apprenticeships available in Hattingen. When the closure plans became known, a protest movement emerged, supported by all sections of the Hattingen population, which drew attention to the impending closure and loss of jobs in imaginative and varied ways. The actions of the “steelworks struggle” ranged from a demonstration with 30,000 participants to the establishment of a “village of resistance” to a human chain surrounding the steelworks site and a hunger strike by women. They generated public attention and led to socially acceptable solutions for the job cuts, but did not prevent the end of the Henrichshütte steelworks.

With the last tapping on December 18, 1987, pig iron production in Hattingen came to an end after 133 years. With the closure of the blast furnaces and rolling mill, the advantages of an integrated steelworks, developed and proven over decades, were lost. The takeover of the blast furnace, forge, and machining workshops by the newly founded Vereinigte Schmiedewerke Gesellschaft in 1988 brought only a brief reprieve. In 2004, the forge was the last fire-based operation to close.