At an activity station along the route of the 14th Frankenwald Hiking Marathon, a craftsman splits a slate slab using a ‘Hippe’ – a narrow hammer with a tapered blade typically used for working slate. The station was situated right next to a historic slate heap on the hiking route near Steinbach am Wald, in the district of Kronach. The quarrying of roofing slate was a defining industry in the Franconian Forest for centuries at Ludwigsstadt, Bavaria, Germany