The giant steam hammer that changed ironworking

The Creusot steam hammer was built in 1877 by Schneider and Co. in Le Creusot, France. As the most powerful hammer in the world, it could deliver blows of up to 100 tons, eclipsing the record set by the German firm Krupp, whose steam hammer "Fritz" had held the title since 1861. It remained the largest of its kind until 1891, when the Bethlehem Iron Company in the United States built a hammer capable of delivering a 125-ton blow.

The Creusot steam hammer was named a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1981 and is now a tourist attraction in Le Creusot town square. In 1969, the hammer was dismantled and reassembled in the town square, where it serves as a reminder of a bygone era of technological achievement.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons