The goal of this work was to improve the catalysts' properties and the catalytic activity of monometallic iron catalysts by supporting on alpha alumina and to underline the great suitability of iron as catalyst in industrial relevant applications. In this work, catalysts with iron loadings of 1 wt%, 5 wt% and 10 wt% were synthesized by incipient wetness impregnation using water and acetone as solvents. The catalysts were calcined, reduced and tested in the selective acetylene hydrogenation under industrial front-end conditions. An activation behaviour of the catalysts due to the contact of the catalysts with air after the reduction is observed. After reaching a plateau in activity at 90 °C, the supported iron nanoparticles show excellent acetylene conversion of as well as excellent selectivities towards ethylene. No significant ethylene conversion was observed. This work demonstrates the great suitability of supported iron nanoparticles, especially for low iron loadings. The results show the need for further research in the development of iron-based catalysts.