The Hefaiston is an annual gathering and international competition of

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s that is held at the Helfštýn castle,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

. It is named after the Greek god

Hephaestus Hephaestus (; eight spellings; grc-gre, Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire (compare, however, with Hestia), and volcanoes.Walter ...

. The event is organized by the Comenius Museum in

Přerov Přerov (; german: Prerau) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 41,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Bečva River. In the past it was a major crossroad in the heart of Moravia in the Czech Republic. The historic centr ...

in collaboration with the administration of the castle since 1982. The 29th gathering (held in 2010) was attended by more than four hundred blacksmiths. The Hefaiston is considered one of the most important annual meetings of artist blacksmiths in the world. ''"Každoroční soutěžní přehlídka uměleckého kovářství Hefaiston, nazvaná podle starověkého boha Hefaista, patří k nejvýznamnějším setkáním uměleckým kovářů na světě."''

History

The tradition of annual blacksmith gatherings at Helfštýn started in 1982. Initially, the event involved only blacksmiths from the former

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Thanks to the efforts of the master blacksmith Alfred Habermann, who spread the information about the event not only in the Czechoslovakia but also abroad, the gatherings gradually turned into a meeting place for blacksmiths from all over the world. The Hefaiston is visited by artist blacksmiths from the Central and Western Europe, but also from Japan,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

etc.

Structure and organization

The main principle of the Hefaiston remains unchanged for years. It starts one week before the main competition with the workshop called The Blacksmith Forum. During the forum, one or groups of blacksmiths working in the castle realize their ideas and designs. Their iron works are subsequently displayed at the castle, and during the weekend are confronted with the works of their blacksmith competitors. Each gathering is connected with the competition. The expert jury evaluates the works of blacksmiths in two categories, works imported to Helfštýn and works created directly at the castle. The jury evaluates the exhibits in the following categories: * Classical artistic blacksmithing * Sculptural works and chamber sculpture * Jewelry * Weapons * Damascene metal work * Iron founding work Since 2008, the best blacksmiths receive the Alfred Habermann Award. A part of the exhibited works remains in the possession of the castle, and Helfštýn represent one of the world's greatest collections of artistic metalworks.

References

External links

* {{coord, 49, 31, 5.24, N, 17, 37, 42.87, E, source:cswiki_region:CZ_type:landmark, display=title Arts festivals in the Czech Republic

History

Structure and organization

See also

References

External links