Hammer Mill at Dobřív
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| Hammer Mill at Dobřív | |
|---|---|
Vodní hamr Dobřív | |
Dobřív, Plzeň Region in the  Czech Republic | |
 Water Hammer Mill at Dobřív | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Mill |
| Owner | Plzeň Region |
| Open to the public | Yes |
| Website | Official website |
| Location | |
  Hammer Mill at Dobřív | |
| Coordinates | 49°43′10″N 13°41′31″E / 49.71944°N 13.69194°E |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1825 |
The water Hammer Mill (also Upper Hammer Mill, in Czech also Hořejší lub) at Dobřív near Rokycany is a unique technical monument commemorating the 500-year-old tradition of iron processing in this region of the Czech Republic. Within the Czech Republic, it is considered the most important building of its kind. It is the first technical monument in the Plzeň Region, that was declared a national cultural monument in 2010.[1]
The monument is owned by Plzeň Region and administered by the Museum of West Bohemia in Plzeň.[2]
The present brick building was constructed at the beginning of the 19th century in the place of older wooden hammer mills from 1658 and 1701. The rich machinery is dated back to the 19th century. Originally, the hammer mill was used to refine blast-furnace raw iron and to produce bar forgings. After the development of later steel industry technologies, the hammer mill changed over to production of heavy forged tools in the late 1860s. In the second half of the 20th century, the production was stopped in the hammer mill and in the ironworks beneath it. The hammer mill became a museum exposition to document the old ways of industrial production[3]
Description
The hammer stands close to the dam of Huťský pond. The adjacent drive feeds water through a wooden trough to the water wheels that drive the hammering equipment through the transmission system.[1] Originally the iron-mill had five water wheels, today three are functional.[4][5]
The mill hall dimensions are 32×12 meters. In the interior there are forges, hammers of various sizes, grinding machines, bending machine, drills, presses and various tools. Water wheels power not only the equipment for the production of forged tools, but also the electricity generator.[4][5] Each water wheel has an output of about 8 kW.[5]
