History of Crosses

The History of Scandinavian Wrought Iron Crosses

The Scandinavian wrought iron grave crosses, 'Smidda Gravkors', primarily date back to the first part of the Eighteenth Century, as Sweden did not have blacksmiths before the end of the Fifteenth Century. At that time, German blacksmith immigrants settled in eastern Vermland and the blacksmiths from Finland, who were traveling with the Germans, settled in the forest areas of the same region.


The History of the German-Russian Wrought Iron Cemetery Cross

The tradition of wrought-iron-cross cemetery art goes back to the 1600’s in Austria and Bavaria. Blacksmiths in Tyrol and upper Austria made the first handcrafted iron cemetery crosses. This art form seems to have become pervasive among European peoples, but only some of them transferred it to the North American Plains.