Forest smithy
Forest forges were medieval and early modern forms of forges that were particularly widespread in Hesse . The forest smiths differed from other blacksmiths in their special working methods and the legal status of their operators.
distribution
Forest blacksmiths existed mainly in Hessen in the Lahn-Dill area , on the southern and western edge of the Thuringian Forest , in the northern Spessart , in the Vogelsberg , in the Taunus , in the northern Odenwald and on the eastern edges of the Rothaargebirge ( Kellerwald ) and Westerwald . This special form of production can be traced back to the Taunus from the 14th to the 16th century.
Forest smithies were often set up away from settlements in wooded areas, where there was deposits of lawn iron stone and enough wood or charcoal to fire the forges. In addition, there were social conditions: In the surrounding areas of larger cities, their populations largely took over iron production with mostly more modern manufacturing processes, while forest smiths mostly formed in remote areas with small aristocratic lords that did not have any urban centers.
Legal status
The forest smiths were initially mostly servants . They developed from the class of artisans who settled at manor houses. The production in forest forges near the required raw materials represented a modernization compared to the iron processing at the manor houses.
The blacksmiths received their blacksmiths' workshop mostly as an inheritance , which represented an improved legal status compared to the serf farmers who did not own their farm. Forest blacksmiths were preferred to other serfs because of their extensive freedom of movement . They had to pay taxes to their liege lords and make their labor and means of production available for a certain period of time. In large parts of the forest smithy area, a significant reduction in these loads can be observed in the course of the Middle Ages. Of the remaining compulsory labor , the Waldschmiede were largely freed. In many cases the feudal lords commissioned other subjects to supply the forest smithy with charcoal and food in order to ensure their ability to work.
Production method
Decline
With the further development of mining and metallurgy , the associated separation between smelting and blacksmithing, safer and faster trade routes and the increasing use of hard coal in steel production, many forest blacksmiths disappeared.
source
- Fritz Geisthardt: Waldschmieden im Taunus , in: Nassauische Annalen, 81st volume, Wiesbaden 1970. pp. 134–144.