A crankshaft (10) is manufactured in one piece from a ceramic material by a shaping process, e.g. slip casting, which does not require any subsequent further shaping. The one-piece design of the crankshaft (10) and the use of a ceramic material make it particularly rigid and easy to manufacture. Only in the region of journals (18) and of a bearing seat (22) for big-end bearings (24) does the crankshaft (10) have to be finished by grinding. The crankshaft (10) is preferably shaped in such a way that undivided big-end bearings (24) can be slid onto it. The crankshaft (10) is preferably balanced by introducing molten metal into a cavity (14) in the crankshaft (10) and then allowing it to solidify. <IMAGE>
