Blacksmith


Up to the 20th Century blacksmith sused to be among the most important craftsmen in the rural parts of Slovenija for they made tools not only for agriculture but also other spheres of activity: wrought iron parts of carts, miscellaneous tools for wine growing and foresty, tools for construction of houses; internal and external house fittings; what is more, they also used the tools they had made. Blacksmith s can be divided into general blacksmiths, tool and art blacksmiths. In 1848 a horse-shoeing school was established and in 1873 it became mandatory for all blacksmiths. In late Middle Ages there used to be a foundry and blacksmith s workshops at the village of Grad. In the 18th Century the blacksmith of Dobrovnik, Lendava and Beltinci started to unite in independent and mixed guilds. In 1927 there were 135 blacksmiths in the district of Murska Sobota; in 1957 there were 98 blacksmiths workshops and 30 horse-shoeing workshops in the entire region of Pomurje. With the introducion of farm tractors and other agricultural machinery in the Eighties blacksmith̕ s workshops started to disaper.

Blacksmith̕ s workshop 
The horse-shoeing and wagon-making blacksmith Štefan Karas (1926-1999) of Gederovci has inherited his workshop from blacksmith Plahtarič. He had learnt his trade for three years in Sebeborci. In 1934 he passed the test for mate̕ s degree and in 1946 he passed the test form aster s degree in Maribor. In 1951 he obtained his trade and licence plied his trade until his death.