They consisted of wooden statues usually of knights in armour into which nails were driven, either iron black , or coloured silver or gold, in exchange for donations of different amounts. Some took different forms, including pillars, shields or local coats of arms and crosses, especially the Iron Cross , and in German there are a variety of alternate names for them, including Wehrmann in Eisen or eiserner Wehrmann Iron Guardian , Nagelfigur , Nagelbild or Nagelbrett Nail Figure or Nail Board , Wehrschild Defence Shield and Kriegswahrzeichen War Monument.
The most famous were the original Wehrmann in Eisen in Vienna and the 'Iron Hindenburg', a metre 39 ft statue of Hindenburg adjacent to the Victory Column in Berlin. The idea for the Nail Men came from the Stock im Eisen in Vienna , a tree-trunk which had had nails hammered into it for centuries. Municipalities and charitable organisations, either specially founded associations or the Red Cross , had a statue or other emblem made out of wood oak was sometimes recommended , sometimes by well known sculptors, such as the medieval knight Wehrmann in Eisen by Mathieu Molitar on the Naschmarkt in Leipzig.
The placement of the nail also reflected the level of the donation. Medallions, postcards and other associated merchandise were sold as a further source of funds. An iron cross was a popular choice of form, perhaps the most popular; [ 12 ] it was specifically recommended by Fitzke and Matzdorf, who state that it would require β nails.
The figures in human form typically were knights in armour but sometimes depicted modern soldiers or historical and legendary figures. Donations were usually collected to assist the wounded or for widows and orphans of the fallen. In York, Pennsylvania , the same fundraising method was used with the opposite meaning: people paid 10 cents to drive a nail into the head of a statue of the kaiser with a red, white and blue handled hammer. Florian Dering , a museologist at the Munich Stadtmuseum , describes a nailing game called Nagelbalken , which became popular after World War I in German-speaking countries and is still used to raise money for charity as well as at weddings, for the newlyweds to display their skills to those present.
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