Station: [4] The blacksmith

“No building site would run without him – the blacksmith. The things he shapes from iron, what he files and hammers almost keep half a castle standing: nails and hooks, heavy wall ties or precisely wrought hinges. The lord of the castle cannot have any of the above delivered on demand – that may be possible with simple nails, produced in large numbers in external smithies. If, however, items have to be made to measure – such as with beam clips or wall ties – the blacksmith will have to become active in situ. Even in Horst.

Two local blacksmiths are known from that time: for the period from 1552 to 1566, the ‘blacksmith in freedom’ is cited as being Henrych Smyt, for 1557/1558 a Master Bertolt Smyt, possibly his brother. For their hard work they source iron from the whole region: Breckerfeld or Schleiden, Essen or Dortmund. What the two experts create in their workshops between anvil and forge, what emerges from the midst of the red hot fire and flying sparks, frequently inspires more than admiration: popular belief will hold for some time yet that blacksmiths are well versed in the ways of magic ...”