The representative manor house of the Auerhammer (hammer mill), originally built as a manor house for a 16th/17th century hammer mill, has been converted in the 19th century, into the first argentan (nickel-silver) factory in Europe, which made use of the raw materials from the adjacent mining areas. The argentan formed the basis for the important Aue cutlery and tableware factory developed by the entrepreneur Christian Gottlieb Wellner (1795-1857). The high-grade products manufactured here were sold worldwide. Traditional precious metal processing still takes place up to the present day in the vicinity of the Auerhammer.
