The mining of iron ore and its further processing into fresh or wrought iron played an important role in the Eifel region as early as in antiquity and the Middle Ages. Even today, many traces from the early beginnings of the iron industry can be found around Schleiden. From 1087 to 1475, the region developed into an important center of mining and metallurgical activities. The mining smelters were the lifeblood of the County of Blankenheim-Schleiden at that time.
The members of the Schoeller family had significant shares in the huts in the Schleiden valley and worked as riding masters in Schleiden and Gemünd until the 18th century. As early as 1550, Joris Schoeller acquired the first shares in a ducal ironworks in Gemünd. In 1827, Wilhelm Arnold Schoeller took over the Hellenthal site and laid the foundation for today’s Schoeller Werk with the “Schoeller’schen Eisenhütte” (Schoeller ironworks).