When the anvil rang

Horse shoes, scythes, door hangers, ploughs, harrows and all types of ironwork: the work of the historical smithy is broad. The forge with its heap of heavily oiled smithy coal, the bellows and the large smoke vent shape the image of this area, where iron was heated red-hot or to white-hot temperatures around 1,250 degrees. However, the anvil, upon which loudly ringing iron and steel were shaped into the desired form, stands at the center of the work. The conspicuous number of different hammers, chisels and spikes is a descriptive expression of the numerous shapes, which the smith knew how to manufacture.

Rough and fine smithery

Inventory from two very different smithies is displayed in the workshops from the Thole Farm from Dalvers. Some comes from the Schrader Hoof and Wagon Smithy in Platjenwerbe in Osterholz County, the rest from the J. Janssen Copper and Bronze Smithy from Ufen near Dornum in East Frisia. The equipment from both smithies comes from the period around 1900. A number of machines can be found next to the classic tools of the smith for that reason, as they were used in the workshops at the turn of the century.