Plans to connect the village to the Lusatian town of Fürstenberg west of the Oder (today part of Eisenhüttenstadt) similar to Frankfurt/Oder - Słubice had existed since Charles IV of Luxembourg became the sole ruler of both territories in 1373.
The main production sites of flat steel products are Ghent-Zelzate, Dunkirk, Avilés, Gijón, Fos-sur-Mer, Piombino, Liège, Florange, Bremen, Eisenhüttenstadt and recently São Francisco do Sul in Brazil.
The Oder-Spree Canal links the Dahme, at nearby Schmöckwitz, with the Oder river, at Eisenhüttenstadt, thus providing a navigable connection between Köpenick and the Oder.
Henry had acquired the strip of former Lubusz Land up to Fürstenberg (today's Eisenhüttenstadt) from the Silesian duke Bolesław II Rogatka in turn for his mediation in the duke's conflict with his Piast brother Henry III the White.