6th Bavarian Artist Blacksmith's and Metal Designer's Meeting, Kolbermoor

The "6 th Bavarian Artist Blacksmiths' and Metal Designer's Meetin" takes place in Kolbermoor, Germany, from 4th to 6 th August 2006.

Kolbermoor is about 50 kilometres south-east of Munich, Bavaria.

The team of chief organiser Peter Elgaß, publisher of HEPHAISTOS, likes to invite all Swedish blacksmiths (and - very important - their families) to come to Kolbermoor in the Bavarian summertime, to work there at the anvils and in workshops, to exhibit their works (indoor and outside), to meet other blacksmiths from all over Europe, to have talks and a good time together. Verlag HEPHAISTOS Publishing House can be helpful for accomodation etc.

The meeting is supposed to be the largest blacksmith's event in Germany.

For more information please get in contact with

Verlag und Redaktion HEPHAISTOS
Gnadenberger Weg 4
D-87509 Immenstadt-Werdenstein
Tel. +49 (0)8379/728016
Fax +49 (0)8379/728018
E-Mail: info@metall-aktiv.de
Internet: http://www.metall-aktiv.de

Någon som funderar på att åka ??? låter som en häftig träff .
Cegga

Bridge Building In Kolbermoor
The biennial to be organised from 4th to 6th August 2006 will offer a programme for blacksmiths as well as for families. Many well-tried event items will be repeated, but a number of items are new and unique up to now. The meeting of blacksmiths will get a landmark well visible from a distance to commemorate the tenth anniversary – the world-wide third Bridge of Friendship.
Michael Ertlmeier provided the draft and planning work; the local hero Josef Still and some other colleagues made sure that the individual parts developed into a well-designed sculpture, for which every participant is to contribute individually designed balusters. The plans are that the blacksmiths produce these balusters on site, but they can also be brought along. The idea of the deceased Aachen-based blacksmith Manfred Bredohl was employed in the previous bridges. His son Timm Bredohl has announced his attendance, and Bredohl's friend and pupil Scott Lankton, official of the Artist Blacksmiths' Association of North America ABANA, has been invited as well.
Achim Wirtz and Ulrich Gerfin will again give a demonstration of a bloomery hearth, subsequently forging the loop. Volker Allexi will travel to Kolbermoor with his mobile casting shop. Helmut Brummer will use his historic drop hammer to coin the bronze thaler in especial demand for the tenth anniversary. Thanks to Martin Ziegler and Johannes Angele it was possible to win the “master of forging ergonomics” Uri Hofi from Israel for the biennial. Uri Hofi will use two Angele pneumatic hammers at the same time to demonstrate his ingenious forging technique. The programme of specialist lectures has not been worked out completely yet. However, up to now the following lecturers will attend: Udo Vogel, Walter Still, Ulrich Gerfin, Adelbert Burk, Tyrena Ulrich and Heinz Denig.
A round-table discussion between the metal designer Alfred Bullermann and HEPHAISTOS publisher Peter Elgass will be organised on 5th August 2006. The panellists will try to take stock under the motto: “Has everything been in vain after all … ? – looking back over the last fifteen years and definition of the position of metal design today”. A discussion has been planned afterwards. During the traditional pre-lunch drink on Sunday, the “Ring of European Cities with Iron Works” will present itself; representatives of the Ring cities will present films, music, interview and typical products from their regions.

Hej!
Någon som åkte? om det var det skulle det va kul att höra hur det var .
Cegga

Intensive seminars in technology and contemporary design

The 10th bi-annual blacksmiths' meeting in Kolbermoor was once again very different from previous meetings. This applies both to the three days of rainy weather and the high-quality blacksmithing demonstrations. At the same time, however, Kolbermoor was still what it has always been – a warm, friendly get-together of the blacksmith community unparalleled in Europe by any other such event.

Never before had so much rain and so little sun been seen at this event. The fact that this meant far fewer visitors on the three festive days was as clear as the motto of the meeting: to forge balusters for the third Bridge of Friendship and renew Manfred Bredohl's brilliant idea. For approx. 130 smiths, this was reason enough to register for the event and pay their participation fee. The country statistics (Israel, Canada, USA, Italy, Curacao, Holland, Poland, Switzerland, Portugal, Austria, Great Britain, Germany) would have been better and the attendance figure probably twice as high, if everyone had fetched their name tags, programmes, posters and certificates. Perhaps the honesty rate will be better next time; after all, materials, music and specialist programme cost money. The costs of the Kolbermoor event are still met exclusively by voluntary efforts and the participation fee. And this year there was no auction, either, because of the baluster forging activities.

To call him the star guest would be inconsistent with his modest nature. But Uri Hofi and his power hammer demonstrations were the absolute highlight of the meeting. Added to this was the fact that a man from Israel was taking part in a peace meeting in the war-torn days of August 2006. That had just as much symbolic power as Hofi's meeting with Muslim Bouzou, the non-ferrous blacksmith from the Niger.
For many, the Damascus steel tent of Karl Josef Heintges was an attraction of a different kind.