The plentiful iron ore deposits, the production of charcoal in the surrounding woods to fire the furnaces and the feasibility of using the Salm’s waterpower for smelting were great enough to run ironworks for a long time.

The tinctures gules and argent (red and silver) are the Malbergs’, under whose lordship Eisenschmitt lay until feudal times came to an end.

The horizontal zigzag stripe (“fess dancetty”) on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side is the sign of the old County of Manderscheid and a reference to the village's former allegiance thereto.

On the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side are a hammer and tongs, symbols of the iron industry that lasted centuries, and from which the municipality also got its name.

The description of these conditions was perceived by many of the writer's contemporaries as scandalous, the women taking on a rôle that then was not commonly customary.