THATS not an Iron Cross.....

[Chris Boonzaier]

THIS is an iron Cross.....sss1.jpg Takes 2 men to carry it.....

[gregM]

Very cool Chris.
Do you know if it came off a memorial?

[Don D.]

It is a donation cross. You pay some money to pound an iron nail into it.

[gregM]

It is a donation cross. You pay some money to pound an iron nail into it.

Thanks Don.
I have never heard of this before.

[Don D.]

I think they were popular in villages and small towns as a way to support the war effort.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,


in Germany they are refered to as a "Nail Cross"... although there were varied designs, there was a huge wooden U-Boot, a large wooden knight... and sometimes just small boards with a painted design.


Sometimes it was done at school level, students could donate to the war effort, and knock in a nail... sometimes they were in front of the town/City hall and anyone could donate and knock in a nail...



This one was from the city of Krefeld, it used to belong to a local Historical society, but eventually due to lack of interest amongst todays youth in joining and then loosing their association rooms the society folded and the items in their collection were sold off....


this is thick and heavy, had to hire a small truck to fetch it!

[HPL2008]

in Germany they are refered to as a "Nail Cross"... although there were varied designs, there was a huge wooden U-Boot, a large wooden knight... and sometimes just small boards with a painted design.!

Hope it is OK if I add two examples for illustration.

Both are in Upper Bavaria; both use the respective town's coat-of-arms. The "Eiserne Rose" ["Iron Rose"] is in Rosenheim; the Stadtlöwe [town lion] is on the gate of the Rathaus [town hall] in Wasserburg am Inn.

The minimum donations required to put a nail into the Wasserburg Lion were: 5 Mark for a large nail, 2 Mark for a medium-sized nail, 40 or 20 Pfennig for a small nail (for school children, only 10 Pfennig for the smallest nails):

[Don D.]

Very nice.

[gregM]

Thanks Andreas.
That gate is amazing.

[leaftree]

Fascinating information, I had never heard of this being done and appreciate the examples shown.

[GRB]

Great topic, an interesting website: -

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nail_Men

[Element7]

Very interesting thank you for sharing!

Kirby

[vellocino]

Hi, here is my example intended to instill patriotism and raise funds through the elementary school system, its made by The school wallboard factory of Gottfried Glasmacher from Essen, which produced nail shields that bore war motifs designed by artists such as Carl Ederer, Josef Huber and Edmund Körner. In a promotional brochure, the company offered 28 different motifs, including the Iron Cross (with oak leaves, with ray wreath), warrior helmet, sword with snake, eagle head with snake, eagle on rocks, lion, warship with seagull, soldier with hand grenade, submarines as well as a praying soldier. The various motifs were also marketed as postcards. Which I have the corresponding one, but I couldn't find it in my paper load. The students used a wooden sign with pre-drilled holes for a donation of 2 to 5 pfennigs with black, silver and gold nails. A round wooden sign with a diameter of about 70 cm offered space for about 3000 to 4000 nails so that revenue of about 70 to 200 marks could be achieved per shield. They were usually held within the school as part of a ceremonial event where patriotic speeches were given. After the nailing, the wooden sign was often hung in school or in classrooms as a war memorial.
It's missing some nails, so even todays period nails nailing are welcome!
Nice cross!
Thanks for sharing!
Vellocino

[vellocino]

back, piece is made of wood with iron hardware.

[Don D.]

Nice.