I am planning a trip to Europe to coincide with the Ypres 2016 event. Has anybody any suggestions places of interest for wrought ironwork? I'm thinking a stroll through Prague will yield many sights. Any suggestions will help. between France and the Baltics all the way down to Milan. 

Thanks in advance!

Germanisches Nationalmuseum  (Photos allowed no flash)
Kartäusergasse 1
90402 Nürnberg

 

Victoria & Albert Museum London.

 

The whole town Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

 

Schloss Eltz  (castle)

Anywhere in Germany really, old town, local history museum. It will take you a year at least.  

Prague is definitely a good bet, the architecture there in general is pretty stunning!

If you are looking for ironwork, Absolutely go to Rouen in France.  It is fairly close to where you're headed, I'll probably see you at the conference.  In Rouen there is an old church they've converted to hold an ironwork collection that is the best in the world.    Here it is on trip advisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g187191-d219327-i45569396-Musee_Secq_des_Tournelles-Rouen_Seine_Maritime_Haute_Normandie_Normandy.html

If you only have time for one place, this is it.  If you have more time/days for travel I can point you to other spots.  A couple years ago I went around Europe for a month checking out ironwork and museums.

http://www.musees-des-techniques.org/Territoire_de_Belfort_90_/Les_musees/forge_musee-AABA.html?langue=FRA

http://mopo3.com/

http://www.museecompagnonnage.fr/

and other...good stay

in the first link :look rather " taillanderie " ( in the Douds )

Wow, Thanks a bunch!  With Hephaiston, plus the Ypres event, there is not much time to look around. Rouen sounds like the spot! 

I would recommend the iron work museum in Kropa, Slovenia, if you're heading into the Baltics. I went last year and found it very interesting, some of the iron work on display is incredible, not to mention the fact that the street outside its literally lined with anvils.

 

http://m.slovenia.info/en/museums-and-galleries/iron-forging-museum

These are the anvils on the street outside, the stones they're standing on are original anvil stands from the local nail forging setups demonstrated in the museum but I do not think were originally used with the anvils currently sitting on them which I guess would have been freestanding.

Has anyone ever seen anvils like this before? They've clearly seen quite some use judging by the mushrooming and sway back on them, I assumed they were used under water powered trip hammers as the whole site is based around a local river flowing down from the mountains. I assume originally there was some kind of flip up tooling mounted on the side of these anvils but that's just guesses on my part.

 

Simon

In the summer of 2007 I was in Reims, France. Incredible variety of iron work styles all around the central part of the city. This is due to the reconstruction after WWI, where some folks had their homes/property (buildings) rebuilt as they looked before the war, or had (at that time) modern buildings put up to replace the destroyed or too damaged. So the styles range from Medieval to Art Deco. Plus the Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral is a UN World Heritage site well worth looking at.

In Paris, if your into armour, there's the Musée de l'Armée. Lots (and I do mean lots) of suits of armour. Plus ancient arms to very modern.

There's also Guédelon Castle in Treigny, France. It's the site of the construction of a 13th century French castle using only techniques known at the time. This castle is the subject of the BBC TV series "Secrets of the Castle."

There's also the Maison de l'Outil (House of Tools) in the city of Troyes (about 100 km) south of Reims. I haven't been there, but slightly regret the missed opportunity.

Enjoy your trip where ever you decide to go.

Don

Edited August 15, 20169 yr by Don Shears
correction of text

There is also a Musee de serrures (spelling?) in the Marais quarters in Paris. I is dedicated to locks and locksmiths.