A pneumatic hammer mechanism is disclosed. The hammer mechanism features: a flying mass, which is movable along an impact axis; an impact surface, which limits a movement of the flying mass along the impact axis in the impact direction; an exciting piston, which limits a movement of the flying mass along the impact axis opposite from the impact direction; a pneumatic chamber between the flying mass and exciting piston; a drive for periodically moving the exciting piston with a stroke along the impact axis, wherein the flying mass is excited to a periodic movement between the impact surface and exciting piston. The stroke is selected as a function of a maximum length of the pneumatic chamber such that the periodic movement of the flying mass on the path between an impact on the impact surface and a minimum approach of the exciting piston intermittently has a velocity of zero.