Name: Young Blacksmiths' Meetup at LWL-Open Air Museum Hagen 2026
Start: 2026-06-22T00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-06-27T00:00:00+00:00
Location: LWL-Freilichtmuseum Hagen

Young Blacksmiths' Meetup Hagen

About Young Blacksmiths' Meetup Hagen

For a week, the LWL-Open Air Museum Hagen transforms into an open blacksmith workshop: Around 20 to 40 young blacksmiths from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Belgium, and Finland meet to work, learn, and observe together. In front of the museum guests, works are created that will remain permanently in the museum — a rare encounter between rolling tradition, modern craftsmanship, and international blacksmithing art in Hagen's Mäckingerbachtal valley.

Dates 22 Jun — 27 Jun 2026

Venue Hagen (05914)

Prices 6.00€ — 12.00€

Status Confirmed

Edition 2026

Young Blacksmiths' Meetup Hagen — edition 2026

Tickets →

For an entire working week, young blacksmiths from several European countries will meet at the LWL-Open Air Museum Hagen to jointly craft a decorative balustrade for the terminus of the museum railway — a public live forging week.

From June 22 to 27, 2026, the second edition of the Young Blacksmiths' Meetup will take place at the LWL-Open Air Museum Hagen. The organizers are the International Association of Artistic Blacksmiths (IFGS) and the Bundesverband Metall, in cooperation with the museum and blacksmith associations from neighboring countries.

The Joint Workpiece 2026

This year's focus is on an artistic balustrade for the terminus of the museum railway. The blacksmiths will design, heat, hammer, and assemble the workpiece in the museum's historical forge workshops; after the festival, it will remain permanently at the station and become part of the museum tour.

Participants

Around 20 to 40 apprentices, journeymen, and journeywomen on their Walz from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Finland are expected. Participation is through the IFGS and partner associations; the Marienhof educational center and youth hostel will handle accommodation.

What Visitors Can Experience

Throughout the week, the workshops are open to museum guests. You can watch the blacksmiths at work, ask questions, see sparks fly, and engage directly with the young craftspeople. The blacksmith demonstrations are included in the regular admission to the Open Air Museum.

Highlights Young Blacksmiths' Meetup Hagen 2026

International Meetup: young blacksmiths from DE, NL, BE, AT, CZ, FI
Joint Workpiece 2026: decorative balustrade for the terminus of the museum railway
Live forging in historical workshops, publicly accessible daily
Included in the museum's day ticket

Programme Young Blacksmiths' Meetup Hagen 2026

Weekly Structure — June 22 to 27, 2026

The Young Blacksmiths' Meetup is not a classic stage festival with a schedule, but an open workshop gathering. Activities will be spread throughout the week as follows:

Monday, June 22 — Arrival and Setup
Welcome at the museum, workshop setup, initial sketches, and material inspection for the railway station balustrade.
Tuesday, June 23 to Friday, June 26 — Forging Work (Workshops open 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM)
Daily live forging in the museum's historical workshops (Reckhammer, forge, anvil row). Visitors can watch the blacksmiths, ask questions, and follow the creation of the workpiece step by step. Lunch breaks and discussion rounds with the IFGS and the Bundesverband Metall.
Saturday, June 27 — Conclusion and Presentation
Final assembly of the balustrade at the terminus of the museum railway. Official handover to the LWL-Open Air Museum in the afternoon.

Organizers: International Association of Artistic Blacksmiths (IFGS) and Bundesverband Metall, in cooperation with the LWL-Open Air Museum Hagen. Detailed daily schedules for individual demonstration sessions will be published on the museum's website in early summer 2026.

Prices Young Blacksmiths' Meetup Hagen 2026

The blacksmith demonstrations are included in the regular admission to the LWL-Open Air Museum:

Adults: approx. €6 per day
Reduced: approx. €3
Children and Youths up to 17 years: free of charge
Family Ticket: approx. €12

Current prices and special opening hours at lwl-freilichtmuseum-hagen.de.

Practical information

Practical information — Young Blacksmiths' Meetup Hagen

Getting There

By Car: A45 or A46, exit Hagen-Süd, then follow signs for Freilichtmuseum. Large paid visitor parking lot at the museum entrance. Public Transport: Take bus line 510 from Hagen Main Station towards Selbecke (stop: Freilichtmuseum, approx. 25 minutes journey time).

Admission Fees

Regular day tickets for the Open Air Museum (adults approx. €6, children up to 17 years free). The blacksmith demonstrations are included in the admission price.

Food and Drink

There are several historical inns within the museum, including Café Hubbelrath. Picnicking on the meadows is permitted.

Living Craftsmanship in the Mäckingerbachtal

The LWL-Open Air Museum Hagen — Westphalian State Museum for Crafts and Technology — is considered one of the largest open-air museums in Europe. With over 60 historical workshops, mills, forges, and a narrow-gauge railway, it reconstructs pre-industrial crafts in the Sauerland and Münsterland regions. It is precisely here, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and in the independent city of Hagen, that the Young Blacksmiths' Meetup has been taking place since 2024: a week in which the museum transforms from a historical exhibition site into a productive workshop.

International Meeting of Young Artistic Blacksmiths

The organizer is the International Association of Artistic Blacksmiths (IFGS), in cooperation with the Bundesverband Metall and blacksmith associations from the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Finland. Young blacksmiths in training, as well as journeymen and journeywomen on their traditional Walz (a medieval custom of journeyman years, recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage since 2014), are invited.

One Joint Workpiece Per Year

Characteristic of the meetup: Each year, the participants jointly realize a workpiece that subsequently remains permanently on the museum grounds. In 2024, it was a functional model of a historical trip hammer on a 1:5 scale — approximately 500 working hours, about 300 kilograms in weight, with a hand crank for visitors to try. For 2026, a decorative balustrade for the terminus of the museum railway is planned: an architectural element that will remain visible long after the blacksmiths have departed.

Observe, Ask, Live with the Heat

The special feature is the radical openness of the event. Unlike classic workshops, the workshops remain open to museum guests during the meetup: You can see, hear, and smell how iron is shaped at 1,200 degrees, how a hammer changes the sound of an anvil, how a forge sparks. Those who ask questions get answers — in German, English, Dutch, or with gestures. The Young Blacksmiths' Meetup is therefore as much an exchange of craftsmanship as a live demonstration, as much a career fair as a public spectacle.

A Festival with Purpose

Amidst the discussion about skilled labor shortages and the crisis of qualified workers, the Young Blacksmiths' Meetup acts as an optimistic statement. Young people from several countries consciously choose an old, physical, demanding craft — and do so with pride, artistic ambition, and an international network. Visitors to the meetup experience not nostalgic folk customs, but vibrant workshops that glow for a summer in Hagen's Selbecke district.