Hammer Mill at Dobřív, Water-powered hammer mill in Dobřív, Czech Republic

The Hammer Mill at Dobřív is a brick, single-storey building of rectangular plan, 32 × 12 m, with a shingle roof and three dormers, standing beside the dam of the Huťský pond. A wooden trough called vantroky feeds water to the wheels that drive the forging equipment; of the original five wheels, three still work. Inside are forges, hammers of various sizes, grinders, a bending machine, drills and presses.

The present brick building was erected between 1825 and 1830 on the site of wooden hammer mills burned by Swedish troops in 1634 and rebuilt in 1657 and 1702. It stayed in operation until 1956, first refining blast-furnace iron into bar forgings, then from the late 1860s forging heavy tools. In 2010 it became a national cultural monument.

The mill keeps the name Horní hamr, or Upper Hammer Mill, and its blacksmith guides forge a round-headed nail for each visitor on a small tail hammer, the same type still made for historic buildings. The third Saturday in May brings the Hamernický den, a blacksmithing day with demonstrations and a supporting programme.

The mill stands by the dam of the Huťský pond in Dobřív, near Rokycany. The exhibition is inside the building, so allow about an hour; demonstrations of forging with the tail hammer depend on the blacksmith's presence. The Hamernický den, with blacksmithing displays, takes place on the third Saturday in May.

The three water wheels still drive the original hammering mechanisms from the 1800s, making this one of the few places where 19th-century industrial technology still works exactly as it was designed. Few other sites in the region have kept such a complete working system unchanged.