Frohnauer Hammer
Encyclopedia
The Frohnauer Hammer is an historic hammer mill
in Frohnau
, a village in the municipality of Annaberg-Buchholz
in the Ore Mountains
of southeast Germany. The mill is an important witness to the proto-industrial development in the Ore Mountains
. Of the once-numerous hammer mills only three others remain working in Saxony apart from the Frohnauer Hammer: the Dorfchemnitz Iron Hammer Mill, the Grünthal Copper Hammer Mill and the Freibergsdorfer Hammer Mill get operational.
In 1907 the Frohnauer Hammer Mill on the Sehma
river became the first technical monument in Saxony. The museum complex includes, apart from the hammer mill itself, an exhibition of forged artefacts, a hand forge, a mechanical "Christmas hill" (Weihnachtsberg) and a bobbin lace room
.
s. On 28 October 1491 Caspar Nietzel discovered a deposit of silver ore on the Schreckenberg
mountain, not far from the mill. Since that year, mining courts (Berggerichte) were held in the mill gardens. On 21 September 1496 the decision was made in the rooms of the mill to found the New Town on the Schreckenberg (Neustadt am Schreckenberg), later St. Annaberg
. The most notable representative at the meeting in Fohnau of the founding commission was Ulrich Rülein von Calw
, the master builder of Annaberg.
In 1498 the young mining town was given minting rights (Münzrecht). The mill was therefore expanded in the same year into a mint
, in which the Schreckenberger, a well-known silver coin, was minted. The mint was soon moved to Annaberg in 1502. Around 1590 the mill was closed and fell into ruins. From 1611 it was used as an oil mill, processing flax
, with an adjoining scissor grinding works. By 1616 there were plans to convert the mill into an iron hammer mill
. This was not achieved however until 1621. Due to the debasement of coins as a consequence of the Thirty Years' War
, Prince-Elector John George I took over the mill and had it turned into a silver hammer mill. But Frohnau only worked for two years and was then closed. It was not profitable to turn it back into a mill, so the prince-elector sold the hammer mill in 1629 to a scissorsmith. Even its new owner did not have the luck needed to succeed economically. The turmoil of war forced him to give the operation up in 1631. From 1632 the place was used as a copper hammer mill, until its new owner left the business in 1642 probably due to the hardships of the Thirty Years' War that continued to drag on. The mill then stood unused for twenty years after its conversion and it was not until 1657 that it came to life again. Its new proprietor, Gottfried Rubner, an Annaberg merchant, had the place converted into a hammer mill by 1660 for 740 Gulden
that made iron strips, armour and shovels in order to satisfy the demand for ironmongery in the economic boom that followed the War.
The iron hammer mill experienced its working heyday in the second half of the 17th century. It developed into an important supplier to the mining industry in the Annaberg region and provided its miners inter alia with hammers and picks and other implements. In addition it manufactured agricultural tools and wrought ironwork. Unlike many other iron hammer works in the Ore Mountains Frohnau did not have its own blast furnace
. The pig iron
wrought here was supplied by other iron works. On 6 February 1692 the mill was razed to its foundations. The then owner, the smith Johann Klauß, was able to quickly rebuild the facility, however, which suggests it was a thriving business. Part of the rebuild included the representative baroque
mansion (Hammerherrenhaus) in timber-framed style (1697). The mill remained operational until 1895, but was only used towards the end as a village smithy. In 1904 it was closed due to a lack of profitability.
Following its closure local historians and museums strove to preserve the hammer mill because it was one of the few in Germany that had largely preserved the original technology of the 17th century. In 1907 the Amtshauptmannschaft Annaberg secured the right to buy the mill. At the same time an association, the Hammerbund was founded, headed by Amtshauptmann von Welck, which attempted to buy the facility. One year later (1908) this assocition was able to purchase the property and in the years that followed to establish it as the first technical monument in Saxony. Since 1910 it has also been accessible as a museum. The guest house was also opened that year. Seventeen years later (1925) the three tilt hammers were able to be brought back into action. In 1938 ownership of the mill switched to the Heimatwerks Sachsen. After the end of the Second World War the site was taken over by the Saxon state government. Further measures to protect the monument could not be implemented due to a lack of finance. As a result the firm of SDAG Wismut bought the building and used it as a store and catering point for research mine shaft No. 132 located nearby.
Following the closure of Wismut's business there were frequent changes of mill owner including the Technische Hochschule Dresden
, the Saxon State Government and the district council for Karl Marx Stadt. Management was delegated by the provincial government to the Cultural Department of the Annaberg district council. In 1952 the government of East Germany allocated 100,000 marks for the security and in the succeeding years just under 20,000 marks annually for the preservation of the mill. In 1953 the Frohnauer Hammer was opened again as a museum. Within the next seven years the facility received a million visitors. In 1985 the five millionth visitor was greeted. Today it has hosted around 7.6 million visitors.
system. In an outbuilding a water-driven, freehand, lathe and a drill spindle may be viewed.
Technical data:
The hammer was used until 1983 in the VEB stamping and forging works unit in Brand-Erbisdorf
.
Trip hammer
A trip hammer, also known as a helve hammer, is a massive powered hammer used in:* agriculture to facilitate the labor of pounding, decorticating and polishing of grain;...
in Frohnau
Frohnau (Annaberg-Buchholz)
Frohnau is a village in the Saxon borough of Annaberg-Buchholz in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in southeast Germany. The discovery of silver on the Schreckenberg led in 1496 to the foundation of the neighbouring mining town of Annaberg. The village of Frohnau is best known for its museum of...
, a village in the municipality of Annaberg-Buchholz
Annaberg-Buchholz
Annaberg-Buchholz is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, in the Erzgebirge, capital of the district Erzgebirgskreis.The town is located in the Ore Mountains, at the side of the Pöhlberg . It has three Protestant churches, among them that of St...
in the Ore Mountains
Ore Mountains
The Ore Mountains in Central Europe have formed a natural border between Saxony and Bohemia for many centuries. Today, the border between Germany and the Czech Republic runs just north of the main crest of the mountain range...
of southeast Germany. The mill is an important witness to the proto-industrial development in the Ore Mountains
Ore Mountains
The Ore Mountains in Central Europe have formed a natural border between Saxony and Bohemia for many centuries. Today, the border between Germany and the Czech Republic runs just north of the main crest of the mountain range...
. Of the once-numerous hammer mills only three others remain working in Saxony apart from the Frohnauer Hammer: the Dorfchemnitz Iron Hammer Mill, the Grünthal Copper Hammer Mill and the Freibergsdorfer Hammer Mill get operational.
In 1907 the Frohnauer Hammer Mill on the Sehma
Sehma (river)
The Sehma is a right tributary of the Rive Zschopau in the German federal state of Saxony and begins at the confluence of its headstreams the White Sehma and Red Sehma ....
river became the first technical monument in Saxony. The museum complex includes, apart from the hammer mill itself, an exhibition of forged artefacts, a hand forge, a mechanical "Christmas hill" (Weihnachtsberg) and a bobbin lace room
Bobbin lace
Bobbin lace is a lace textile made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins to manage them. As the work progresses, the weaving is held in place with pins set in a lace pillow, the placement of the pins usually determined by a pattern or pricking pinned on the...
.
History
The Frohnauer Hammer goes back to the 15th century when in was mentioned as a corn mill with four millstoneMillstone
Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.The type of stone most suitable for making millstones is a siliceous rock called burrstone , an open-textured, porous but tough, fine-grained sandstone, or a silicified,...
s. On 28 October 1491 Caspar Nietzel discovered a deposit of silver ore on the Schreckenberg
Schreckenberg
Schreckenberg is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany....
mountain, not far from the mill. Since that year, mining courts (Berggerichte) were held in the mill gardens. On 21 September 1496 the decision was made in the rooms of the mill to found the New Town on the Schreckenberg (Neustadt am Schreckenberg), later St. Annaberg
Annaberg-Buchholz
Annaberg-Buchholz is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, in the Erzgebirge, capital of the district Erzgebirgskreis.The town is located in the Ore Mountains, at the side of the Pöhlberg . It has three Protestant churches, among them that of St...
. The most notable representative at the meeting in Fohnau of the founding commission was Ulrich Rülein von Calw
Ulrich Rülein von Calw
Ulrich Rülein von Calw was a doctor, mathematician and well-known mining engineer. He was also active as a surveyor, town planner and astrologer and was the mayor of the mining town of Freiberg for 5 years.- Life :...
, the master builder of Annaberg.
In 1498 the young mining town was given minting rights (Münzrecht). The mill was therefore expanded in the same year into a mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
, in which the Schreckenberger, a well-known silver coin, was minted. The mint was soon moved to Annaberg in 1502. Around 1590 the mill was closed and fell into ruins. From 1611 it was used as an oil mill, processing flax
Flax
Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...
, with an adjoining scissor grinding works. By 1616 there were plans to convert the mill into an iron hammer mill
Trip hammer
A trip hammer, also known as a helve hammer, is a massive powered hammer used in:* agriculture to facilitate the labor of pounding, decorticating and polishing of grain;...
. This was not achieved however until 1621. Due to the debasement of coins as a consequence of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, Prince-Elector John George I took over the mill and had it turned into a silver hammer mill. But Frohnau only worked for two years and was then closed. It was not profitable to turn it back into a mill, so the prince-elector sold the hammer mill in 1629 to a scissorsmith. Even its new owner did not have the luck needed to succeed economically. The turmoil of war forced him to give the operation up in 1631. From 1632 the place was used as a copper hammer mill, until its new owner left the business in 1642 probably due to the hardships of the Thirty Years' War that continued to drag on. The mill then stood unused for twenty years after its conversion and it was not until 1657 that it came to life again. Its new proprietor, Gottfried Rubner, an Annaberg merchant, had the place converted into a hammer mill by 1660 for 740 Gulden
Gulden
Gulden is the historical German term for gold coin Gulden is the historical German term for gold coin Gulden is the historical German term for gold coin (from Middle High German guldin [pfenni(n)c] "golden penny", equivalent to the Dutch term guilder...
that made iron strips, armour and shovels in order to satisfy the demand for ironmongery in the economic boom that followed the War.
The iron hammer mill experienced its working heyday in the second half of the 17th century. It developed into an important supplier to the mining industry in the Annaberg region and provided its miners inter alia with hammers and picks and other implements. In addition it manufactured agricultural tools and wrought ironwork. Unlike many other iron hammer works in the Ore Mountains Frohnau did not have its own blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
. The pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
wrought here was supplied by other iron works. On 6 February 1692 the mill was razed to its foundations. The then owner, the smith Johann Klauß, was able to quickly rebuild the facility, however, which suggests it was a thriving business. Part of the rebuild included the representative baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
mansion (Hammerherrenhaus) in timber-framed style (1697). The mill remained operational until 1895, but was only used towards the end as a village smithy. In 1904 it was closed due to a lack of profitability.
Following its closure local historians and museums strove to preserve the hammer mill because it was one of the few in Germany that had largely preserved the original technology of the 17th century. In 1907 the Amtshauptmannschaft Annaberg secured the right to buy the mill. At the same time an association, the Hammerbund was founded, headed by Amtshauptmann von Welck, which attempted to buy the facility. One year later (1908) this assocition was able to purchase the property and in the years that followed to establish it as the first technical monument in Saxony. Since 1910 it has also been accessible as a museum. The guest house was also opened that year. Seventeen years later (1925) the three tilt hammers were able to be brought back into action. In 1938 ownership of the mill switched to the Heimatwerks Sachsen. After the end of the Second World War the site was taken over by the Saxon state government. Further measures to protect the monument could not be implemented due to a lack of finance. As a result the firm of SDAG Wismut bought the building and used it as a store and catering point for research mine shaft No. 132 located nearby.
Following the closure of Wismut's business there were frequent changes of mill owner including the Technische Hochschule Dresden
Dresden University of Technology
The Technische Universität Dresden is the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, the largest university in Saxony and one of the 10 largest universities in Germany with 36,066 students...
, the Saxon State Government and the district council for Karl Marx Stadt. Management was delegated by the provincial government to the Cultural Department of the Annaberg district council. In 1952 the government of East Germany allocated 100,000 marks for the security and in the succeeding years just under 20,000 marks annually for the preservation of the mill. In 1953 the Frohnauer Hammer was opened again as a museum. Within the next seven years the facility received a million visitors. In 1985 the five millionth visitor was greeted. Today it has hosted around 7.6 million visitors.
Technology
The Frohnauer Hammer still has the original hammer mill technology from the second half of the 17th century. The heart of this system is the three tilt hammers, whose shafts are driven by an overshot water wheel. The hamers themselves have a weight of 100 kg, 200 kg and 250 kg. They can develop a hammer force of up to 12 tons. Today during demonstrations only the small hammer is operated. Also preserved is the bellowsBellows
A bellows is a device for delivering pressurized air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location.Basically, a bellows is a deformable container which has an outlet nozzle. When the volume of the bellows is decreased, the air escapes through the outlet...
system. In an outbuilding a water-driven, freehand, lathe and a drill spindle may be viewed.
Drop hammer
In addition there is a open-die drop hammer on display. These steam hammers replaced the water-powered hammers from 1860 onwards.Technical data:
- Built 1918
- Manufacturer: Richard Hartmann, Chemnitz
- Total weight without anvil block: 7 t
- Drop weight of the hammer tup: 600 kp (= 5,884 N)
- Maximum stroke of the hammer tup: 80 cm
- No. of blows per minute: up to 105
The hammer was used until 1983 in the VEB stamping and forging works unit in Brand-Erbisdorf
Brand-Erbisdorf
Brand-Erbisdorf is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 5 km south of Freiberg....
.
Sources
- Waldemar Berger: Der Frohnauer Hammer. Ein Kulturdenkmal des oberen Erzgebirges. Buchholz 1925.
- Jörg Bräuer: Technisches Denkmal und Museum Frohnauer Hammer. Reihe Sächsische Museen kleine Reihe Nr. 5. Chemnitz 2002.
- Siegfried Sieber: Der Frohnauer Hammer als Denkmal der erzgebirgischen Eisenindustrie. in: Mitteilungen des Landesvereins Sächsischer Heimatschutz. Band XXVII. Heft 1-4. Dresden 1938. S. 1-29.
- Dokumente zur Geschichte des Frohnauer Hammers, Heftreihe, Teil 1 - 10, Herausgeber: Technisches Museum Frohnauer Hammer und Hammerbund Frohnau e.V., 2007
- Bernd Schreiter: 100 Jahre Hammerbund 1907 – 2007, Festgabe zum Jubiläum, Herausgeber: Hammerbund Frohnau e.V., 2007
External links
- Chronological development of the Frohnauer Hammer
- Historic views of the Frohnauer Hammer (German phototheque)