Stock im Eisen

The Stock im Eisen (German: "staff in iron") is the midsection of a tree-trunk from the Middle Ages, a so-called nail-tree (Nagelbaum), into which hundreds of nails have been pounded for good luck over centuries.

Wrought iron vines were added, and the building has Zum Stock-im-Eisen (At the Stock im Eisen) carved above the door and a bronze sculpture group of locksmith apprentices and the tree trunk, by Rudolf Weyr, in the tympanum.

The custom persisted until the late 19th century,[7] and inspired the "men of iron" statues that were used for propaganda and fund-raising in Germany and Austria in World War I, particularly the tree set up in Freiburg.

The padlock which guides to Vienna often refer to as "unopenable" is only for show,[2] and cannot be opened simply because the insides of the lock are no longer there and so it will not accept a key.

Admittedly, the tree was certainly outside the city walls in 1440, but the legend only appeared in the 17th century, when the area was already urban and the Stock im Eisen mounted on the side of a house, and hence is presumably pure invention.

The legends of the Devil and the Stock im Eisen are the subject of an 1880 ballet by Pasquale Borri, to music by Franz Doppler.

[21] "Outside Stefan church was a place called "Stock im Eisen" and a boutique in which was a large portrait of a Danish King Frederick VI.