A Eisenhammer or a hammer work is a crafts enterprise for the production of wrought steels as semi-finished material and of consumer durables produced from it from the time before the industrialization. The named-giving characteristic of these was the hammer propelled with water power. The raising of the hammer took over a drum, on which thumbs were fastened, the Hammerstiel moved, down-pressed and the Hammerkopf finally raised. With the up and Niederfallen the latter in a semi-circle line moved.

At first by water wheels, later also by steam strength operated mechanism became generally accepted, when the workpieces which can be worked on continued to increase with the time and to be worked on only with difficulty by hand were.

The smelted iron ore with charcoal in the "herds of running in such a way specified" (Georgius Agricola 1556, also "running fire" or "running furnace": of "gutters" of the cinder; or "Zrennherd": of "pull inside""Â…). In these melting furnaces, which were provided with likewise water power-claimant bellows, the ore was merged into a glowing lump from raw iron, cinder and coal remainders. The iron became however not liquid thereby as in a blast furnace, but remained a doughy lump. This ball lumps mentioned then on hammers so long one out-forged and in a further furnace one heated up, until all cinder and coal remainder were distant. The iron could be re-used afterwards as wrought steels directly. A following remuneration process as with the blast furnace procedure was not necessary.

Far common were since the late Middle Ages in the Upper Palatinate, particularly in the area of the cities Amberg and Sulzbach, in the forest ("loud" and "Niederhammer" in Suhl already 1363) in the Fichtelgebirge, in the ore mountains and in the resin, as well as in the winner country to the victory (today over victories). In these areas there were iron occurrences, which were to be diminished with means at that time. Thus e.g. the Upper Palatinate received also Ruhr district of the Middle Ages to the surnames.

Place name with name ending - hammer are very frequent in these areas.

Typical products of the were

• Staff iron (as raw material for the tubing rohrschmieden in Suhl)
• Rails
• Black plate
• Tinplate - tinned iron sheet metal
• Wires

They arrived in such a way in the trade and the subsequent treatment at final products took place mostly only outside of the developing area, in the forest however usually locally (Suhl and Zella Mehlis: Weapons; Schmalkalden, Steinbach resounding mountain: Tools).

Related links

• Hammer hammerschmiede castle living (provable since 1465)

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