In the Gothic period the locks still had been fixed on the outside of the door what had the benefit that one could open them with a relatively little key since the key did not have to bridge the thickness of the door.

However, in the middle of the 16th century the locksmith Leonhard Danner from Nürnberg, Germany, came on the market with an instrument which he had called on the beautiful name "Danner's breaking screw" and of which he promised in woodcuts, which he distributed as advertising newspapers, that with that one can easily and noiselessly remove any lock from the door.