This Billian film contains a famous scene (often clipped and re-titled) in which a frustrated carpenter/builder, after a series of failed sexual encounters, holds up his actual carpenter’s hammer and delivers a monologue to God. He calls the hammer his “only reliable companion” and asks for “a sign, a woman, or at least a Stossgebet that works.” The scene is 90 seconds of absurdist genius. Bootleg copies of this film have circulated under dozens of names, including Gebete für Handwerker (Prayers for Craftsmen) and Mein Hammer und ich .
But does it exist? The short answer is no—not under that name. The long answer reveals a fascinating rabbit hole of misremembered titles, lost dubbing masters, and the chaotic genius of one of Germany’s most misunderstood directors. Before hunting the "hammer," one must know the blacksmith. Hans Billian (born Johann Baptist Billian) started his career in the respectable 1950s, co-writing Heimatfilme (homeland films). But by the late 1960s, as the sexual revolution hit the Federal Republic, Billian pivoted hard. He became the king of the Aufklärungsfilm (sex education/exploitation film). Stossgebet fur meinen Hammer -Hans Billian- Lov...
However, the fragments of the keyword point unmistakably to (1918–2007), a prolific German screenwriter, director, and actor, and to the “Lov...” genre (referring to the Report films and softcore erotic comedies of the 1970s). This Billian film contains a famous scene (often