Osmond process

The Brandenburg Osemund was a very soft and viscous, readily malleable iron.

PREPARATION AND USE

The iron was produced during the late Middle Ages and early modern times by water-powered hammer mills. This concentrated mainly in rural areas of the parish Lüdenscheid. Further processing was then carried out in the cities.

The Osemund iron was well suited for wire drawing. Only on the basis of this material the wire manufacturing in the cities Lüdenscheid, Altena and Iserlohn could develop.

The pre-industrial trade fell by the industrial competition towards the end of the 18th century in the crisis. The wire manufacturing disappeared soon after the beginning of the 19th century from the market, while the Osemundproduktion could stay partially until the middle of the 19th century.

Conceptual history

With the basic interpretation of the word Osemund many linguists have been concerned, but without finding a satisfactory result. The word already occurs in the 14th century without its geographical origin would be unique to you. The next is the assumption that the term comes from the Norse, Swedish room where he perhaps first a particular ore, but then called a special iron quality. An interesting explanation is found in a dissertation by Peter Saxholm from 1725: the word Osemund so can be derived from Asmuntz, the name of a son of the giant Gulla. This Asmuntz would be called in many sveogothischen runic writings and applies there as the inventor of the iron.