This is about a very important profession at that time, that of the blacksmith. Until the 20th century, almost no other craft could do without this profession. Good tools made of iron and steel were needed, especially for building ships and working stone, and nail smiths were particularly in demand. They have been documented in Eberbach since 1516. The main customers for their nails were the wooden shipyards. Between 1785 and 1860, up to eight nail smiths worked in the town with their journeymen and apprentices. A hammering blacksmith can be seen in a large photo,
In front of it is an anvil mounted on a tree trunk, complete with hammer and nails. Almost all nails were made of iron. Iron rods - of different diameters depending on the purpose of the nails - were made to glow at one end by rapid hammer blows and sharpened to a square point. Then the worked part was broken off the bar and given a head by further hammer blows. In this way, nail after nail was hammered until the bar was finished. The nail smiths were later displaced by the decline of wooden shipbuilding and the factory production of nails from wire. In 1931, the last nail smith in Eberbach gave up his trade. Blacksmiths were still necessary, they made horseshoes for horses, grilles for windows, garden fences and gates, candlesticks and weapons. Nails, on the other hand, were manufactured in Eberbach from wire by automatic machines with a capacity of 10,000 pieces per hour and sold worldwide.