Völklinger Hütte is an ironworks factory (Hütte) located in the town of Völklingen. Construction on the factory began in 1881, and the Hutte was in operation until 1986. Saarland was an ideal place for an ironworks factory because this area, as well as the corresponding area on the other side of the French border (Alsace, Lorraine) contained large reserves of coal and iron. The history of Saarland, as well as Alsace and Lorraine, has been strongly shaped by this type of industrial production. Coal and iron are necessary to make steel, and steel is a very durable metal. It is often used in buildings, infrastructure, transportation devices, machines, as well as weapons.
Coal and iron and the resulting steel were the key to industrial, economic, and thus political power for these regions. Since these regions fall right on the French-German border, France and Germany have been fighting over them for hundreds of years. After the Franco-Prussian war in 1871, Germany annexed (stole) the French territory of Alsace and half of neighboring Lorraine, thus gaining control of the coal and iron production in that whole border region. After World War I in 1919, France regained those two regions as well as the right to occupy Saarland.
