Călan steel works
Coordinates: 45°44′30″N 22°59′43.2″E / 45.74167°N 22.995333°E
The Călan steel works, formerly the Victoria Steel Works Călan (Romanian: Combinatul Siderurgic "Victoria" Călan), were a steel mill in the Transylvanian town of Călan, Romania. Begun around 1870, when the area was part of Austria-Hungary, the works underwent a powerful expansion following nationalization in 1948 by the nascent Communist regime, making a vital contribution to the growth of the town. Privatization in the late 1990s proved unsuccessful, and the works were largely abandoned within a decade, leading to economic hardship for Călan.
In 1867, the administration of the Brașov Mining and Metallurgy Company (Kronstädter Bergbau- und Hüttenvereins-Komplexes), headed by Prince Maximilian Egon I of Fürstenberg, purchased land for a steel works. The land, covering some 104 ha including swamps, came from the wife of a Hungarian nobleman. In 1868, German engineer Otto Gmelin was hired to draw up plans for the new enterprise. The decision to build at Călan was closely related to the fact that a railway line was being laid between Simeria and Petroșani, and work intensified at Călan once this line was complete. The first furnace was built starting on May 25, 1869 by the Brașov company, which also held the Teliuc mine. Inaugurated in the winter of 1871, it had a capacity of 82 m3. The second furnace started being built in 1874 and went operational the following year. Josef Massenez, a Belgian, supervised the construction work. Ore and dolomite used in production came straight from Teliuc. A foundry was begun in 1876, with two cupola furnaces added the following year.
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