Oberer Jansenkotten

The Upper Jansen Kotten was a Schleifkotten in Gelpetal in Wuppertal district Elberfeld (North Rhine-Westphalia). It is located directly on the border to the districts Cronenberg and Ronsdorf. Here Eichholzbach flows at an altitude of about 235 meters above sea level in the Gelpe. The building was demolished in 1908, only the fireplace has been preserved and was registered as an architectural monument in the list of monuments of the city of Wuppertal.The Schleifkotten was first mentioned in 1800 as the possession of Caspar Eicken. The Schleifkotten passed in 1826 into the possession of Johann Jansen, residing in the nearby hamlet of In der Gelpe. An upper ditch led water of the brook Gelpe to a reserve pond, which was connected with a 200-meter-long ditch with the actual ponds and fed this with water shortage of the Gelpe as a substitute. The water reservoir provided water for the water wheel of the grinding shop, which with its artificial gradient drove the wave of rotating grindstones and plush disks.
According to an inscription on the building, the 20-meter-high chimney was built on a quarry stone base in 1858. The chimney blew off the fumes of a steam engine that supplemented the water. When exactly this steam engine was installed, does not appear from the files - according to tradition, but it should have been the first in the Gelpetal. 1882 work in the Upper Jansenkotten 14 assistants.
The Schleifkotten, which was also mentioned in the documents Dohmskotten or Dammskotten, was until 1897 (according to other information to 1905) in the family estate and then passed to a Barmer entrepreneur. In 1908 the demolition took place, only the chimney remained.
On November 12, 1993, the fireplace was placed under protection as a technical cultural monument. At the beginning of the 21st century, the city of Wuppertal acquired the land from private ownership. In May 2009, the redevelopment of the fireplace, financed by the Gelpeverein fund and supported by the city with logistical funds, was completed.Source: Wikipedia

Bij de Gelpe beek staat een grote schoorsteen, een overblijfsel van de Jansenkotten. Sinds de 14e eeuw worden hier ijzer en staal industrieel verwerkt. Honderden hamermolens en maalhutten vestigden zich in de naburige steden, die tot het begin van de 20e eeuw gebruik maakten van de waterkracht van de regio.

Een overgebleven schoorsteen begroet bezoekers direct naast een parkeerplaats aan de muur. Dit was een plaats voor vroege industrie. Later was er aan de overkant van de straat een excursierestaurant waarvan nog steeds een terras te zien is.