Nail Men

The idea for the Nail Men came from the Stock im Eisen in Vienna, a tree-trunk which had had nails hammered into it for centuries. The first Nail Man, a medieval knight, was set up in Vienna and was first nailed on 6 March 1915 in a public ceremony attended by many dignitaries, including members of the imperial household and the German and Ottoman ambassadors. They were promoted as a patriotic fund-raising method in German-speaking parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also in the German Empire, including by publications such as Gotthold Riegelmann's Der Stock in Eisen: praktische Ratschläge zur Errichtung einfacher Nagelholzmale mit Ideenskizzen und Kostenberechnungen (The Stock im Eisen: practical advice on the erection of simple wooden monuments for nailing with sketched ideas and cost calculations) and Benno Fitzke and Paul Matzdorf's Eiserne Kreuz-Nagelungen zum Besten der Kriegshilfe und zur Schaffung von Kriegswahrzeichen (Iron cross nailings for the best benefit of war aid and for the creation of war monuments). They have been seen as "fit[ting] in much more closely with Protestant celebrations of the Prussian military genius and the grandeur of the Kaiserreich" than with Austrian Catholicism. Municipalities and charitable organisations, either specially founded associations or the Red Cross, had a statue or other emblem made out of wood (oak was sometimes recommended), sometimes by well known sculptors, such as the medieval knight Wehrmann in Eisen by Mathieu Molitar on the Naschmarkt in Leipzig. The nails which the donor could use depending on the level of the donation could be iron, or silver- or gold-plated. The placement of the nail also reflected the level of the donation. in the case of the 'Iron Siegfried' at Wiesbaden, iron nails cost 1 mark, silver-coated, 5–20 marks, and gilded up to 300 marks, with further donations possible; in the case of the Hindenburg statue in Berlin, gold nails cost 100 marks, silver and black cost 5 marks, and grey 1 mark; for donations over 500 marks, a small plaque was nailed to the sword. Donations were often recorded in an 'Iron Book', for example at Heidelberg, and the donor often received a lapel pin, a certificate, or some other token of the donation. Medallions, postcards and other associated merchandise were sold as a further source of funds. it was specifically recommended by Fitzke and Matzdorf, who state that it would require 160–200 nails. Other common shapes were shields and coats of arms, but animals, flowers and ships (including U-boats) were also nailed. The figures in human form typically were knights in armour but sometimes depicted modern soldiers or historical and legendary figures. In addition to Hindenburg, Admiral Tirpitz, Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria and General Otto von Emmich were depicted as Nail Men. Donations were usually collected to assist the wounded or for widows and orphans of the fallen. But in some cases, for example at Schwäbisch Gmünd, they were intended to help supply front soldiers; in the winter of 1916, the need was particularly great. The statues were usually prominently displayed and there was considerable social pressure to show patriotism by buying nails. The first nail was generally ceremonially driven by an important personage at a large patriotic ceremony including hymns and specially written patriotic poems which often evoked the Age of Chivalry; Fitzke and Matzdorf provide a suggested ceremony in 24 parts. ==Locations==

Austria Vienna • Vienna: Wehrmann im Eisen, a medieval knight in full armour. • Alsergrund: a hunter, in an inn, donations benefitting the dependents of fallen professional hunters. • Innere Stadt: a posthorn, in the Trade Ministry, 20 May 1917. • Favoriten: a U-boat, set up by the local branch of the Austrian Fleet Association to raise money for construction of a new U-boat. • Floridsdorf: a shield on a station platform, and the armorial oak of Army Chief of the General Staff Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf in an inn. • Stammersdorf: a shield. • Grinzing: a grapevine, created by Professor F. Barwig of the Vienna School of Applied Arts and his students. • Leopoldstadt: a shield and a soldier. • Meidling: a shield. • Vienna (precise location unknown): a U-boat donated by Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach. Archduke Franz Salvator drove the first nail on behalf of Emperor Franz Joseph. • Bad Hall: Tassilo. • Dorfgastein: a shield. • Jägerndorf: an eagle. • Marchtrenk: a table, made by a Russian prisoner of war and decorated with carvings by a corporal from Trieste. • Mauerkirchen: a shield. • Mürzzuschlag: a shield. • Ternitz: a hand grenade, set up by the local men's chorale on 20 August 1916. • Vornbach am Inn: a shield. • Unknown location Former Austro-Hungarian territories now in Croatia • Curzola (now Korčula), Dalmatia: a ship. • Škrip (Brač): oval plaque with anchor, in the Skrip Museum • Pula: a lighthouse. (Iron Royal Croatian Home Guard), Museum of Contemporary History now in the Czech Republic • Asch, now Aš: a Wehrmann (knight). • Sterzing: a Wehrmann (knight).). --> now in Ukraine • Czernowitz: an imperial eagle, set up in memory of liberation from Russian occupation, and based on the eagle on the town hall roof, which the Russians had removed. • Drohobycz: a Wehrmann (knight). After the war the statue was sold for firewood. in the museum in Erfurt in Brunswick Other locations in modern Germany • Aachen: Roland. • Arendsee: an iron cross. • Bad Pyrmont: St. Michael (the patron saint of Germany). • Bad Tölz: an eagle, with a figure of Justice. • Cham: an iron cross. • Cuxhaven: an iron cross. • Eichstätt: the coat of arms of the locality and a Wehrmann (knight). • Elmshorn: an iron cross. • Erfurt: a soldier. • Frensdorf: an iron cross. • Grabow: an iron cross and a shield. • Gütersloh: an eagle. • Hagen-Haspe: a shield. • Altona, Hamburg: Isern Hinnerk (Low German: Iron Henry, named for Heinrich von Borch). • Dockenhuden, Hamburg: a park bench, bearing the arms of Schleswig-Holstein and a patriotic motto. • Harburg, Hamburg: a guardian bird, first nailed on 2 September 1915. • Hameln: a shield. • Hainholz, Hannover-Nordstadt: a table, in the station inn. • Heidelberg: Iron Cross surmounted by a crown, 190 cm square, 14 cm thick, with an Iron Book as a record of donations, in aid of the Red Cross. Unveiled 26 June 1915; by July 1917, almost 28,500 marks had been donated (3,344 silver nails and 16,083 iron nails) by approximately 15,000 people, about one tenth of whom added a personal message when they signed the book. • Itzehoe: Charlemagne. • Kassel: a wellhead. • Kaufbeuren: a shield. • Kirchgellersen: a cross. • Kleve: a Wehrmann (knight). • Lauenförde: a shield. • Mainz: a column. --> • Malchin: an iron cross. • Neuburg an der Donau: Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, leader of the German forces in Lorraine. • Oldenburg: Isern Hinnerk. --> • Haste, Osnabrück: an iron cross. • Penzlin: an iron cross. • Recklinghausen: a column. • Schwerin: a door of the cathedral, and an iron cross at the artillery barracks. • Seesen: clasped hands, inaugurated 27 January 1916. • Wilhelmshaven: Admiral Tirpitz, and a U-boat. • Breslau (now Wrocław): St. Michael. • Reichenau, Silesia (now Niwa, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland) now in Russia • Königsberg (now Kaliningrad): a Wehrmann (knight). United States German-Americans and Austrian-Americans also collected money by means of Nail Men, until the entry of the US into the war on the Allied side. • San Francisco: an iron cross. In York, Pennsylvania, the same fundraising method was used with the opposite meaning: people paid 10 cents to drive a nail into the head of a statue of the kaiser with a red, white and blue handled hammer. ==Modern nailing==

Florian Dering, a museologist at the Munich Stadtmuseum, describes a nailing game called Nagelbalken, which became popular after World War I in German-speaking countries and is still used to raise money for charity as well as at weddings, for the newlyweds to display their skills to those present. ==References==