production produced such an increase in production that by the following year The saltworks was already occupying third place among all salt-producing companies in Prussia for its productivity. First half of the 19th century – Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution advances in the Ruhr. At the start of the 19th century, the steam engine is used there for the first time, and Napoleonic measures abolish feudal influences. When the entire area comes under Prussian hegemony in 1815, further advances are made in transportation and encouragement of industry. By the 1830s, the important deep-lying coking-coal seams of the Emscher Basin are reached for the first time, railways make their appearance and in 1849 smelting iron ore with coke is successfully carried out for the first time in the Ruhr. 1801 – The annexation of the left bank of the Rhine by the French was recognized in the Peace of Lunèville on 9 February 1801. 1801 – The first (but still imported) steam engine used in the Ruhr mines was employed in removing water in the Vollmond Mine in Werne (in present-day Bochum). The technician responsible, Franz Dinnendahl, founded a factory in Essen a few years afterwards and manufactured steam engines designed by himself. 1802 – In August, Prussian troops occupy the former religious territories of Essen und Werden. As part of a secret agreement made with the French, they are intended as compensation for territories lost by Prussia on the left bank of the Rhine. 1803 – Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, as a result of secularisation the religious territories of Reichsabtei Werden and Stift Essen are dissolved. These territories are transferred eventually to Prussia. Duke Louis-Engelbert of Arenberg receives, as compensation for his left-bank principality, the Vest Recklinghausen and other areas. 1806–1813 – The Napoleonic Grand Duchy of Berg is in existence from October 1806 until 18 November 1813. Its departements include the Ruhr département, whose prefecture was based in Dortmund, and the Rhine département with prefecture in Düsseldorf. Freiherr Gisbert of Romberg zu Brünninghausen was appointed as prefect of the Ruhr département. The first ruler of Berg is Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law. The French abolished tolls on the River Ruhr, just as they had previously abolished tolls on the Rhine (on the Rhine tolls extracted at Cologne had previously been a severe barrier to river traffic). 1808 – Napoleon issued a decree from Madrid on 12 December that abolished serfdom and bound labor