 In 1950 at the third party conference of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany the construction of a new steelworks was announced.A flat, agriculturally unimportant site near was chosen, and 18 Aug 1950 minister Fritz Selbmann symbolically felled a mountain pine tree, indicating the start of the work on construction of the new plant, named "Eisenhuttenkombinat 'J.W.Stalin"'.