Altenböddeken glassworks
The Altenböddeken glassworks was located near the hamlet of Altenböddeken in the Haaren Forest near Wewelsburg in what is now Paderborn , North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in 1807 and ceased operations in 1881.
history
The glassworks was built in 1807 by the glass masters Friderich and August Becker. You were a branch of a family of glass masters originally from the Großalmerode area and had previously operated a glassworks near Driburg . There, however, the wood became scarce, which is why it seemed impossible to continue operating the glassworks there. As a result of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss , however, the former Augustinian monastery Böddeken had been dissolved by the Prussian state a few years earlier , so that the wooded lands of the former monastery were now state-owned and could be given to the Becker brothers on a hereditary lease after they did so on August 26, 1805 was applied for at the War and Domain Chamber of Münster. On March 30, 1806, a contract was signed between the Becker brothers and the Munster War and Domain Chamber for an initial period of ten years from 1807, according to which they should receive eight hundred males of beech wood annually , the malter for one thaler and fourteen groschen. The settlement of the glass factory was welcomed by the Prussian administration, which had recently acquired the former duchy of Paderborn, as an opportunity for the socio-economic development of the region, which was generally considered backward, but it led to a sharp rise in the price of wood, which for many A main source of income for residents, the more expensive resale of wood purchased cheaply in Böddeken, ceased to exist. The glassworks hardly provided any jobs for the population of the surrounding villages; the skilled workers moved here from Hesse , Thuringia and Saxony .
They formed an independent settlement around the glass factory. For the year 1818 the local history of Wewelsburg records "82 souls and 14 houses" there. In 1840, 83 people lived near the glassworks. Each worker got two pigs, a cow and 1/3 acre of land. Up to 31 people worked in the factory during the Easter to Christmas season.
The type of glass production was typical of a 19th century glass factory. Mainly window panes and simple hollow glass were produced with the help of a so-called German furnace, in shifts of 12 hours without a break. The necessary raw materials such as sand, lime and potash were bought in the area. Up to 400 kg of glass could be produced in a melting time of up to 48 hours.
In 1816, 460 boxes of window glass, 21 × 17 inch panes, 180,000 pieces of white hollow glass, 60,000 pieces of green hollow glass and 180,000 pieces of medical glasses were produced in the glassworks. The value of this glassware was around 12,000 Reichstaler. The finished products were mainly exported, some as far as the Netherlands. But the glass was also sold by dealers in the surrounding area.
When working in the glassworks, it was noted in a factory inspection in 1855 that it was "unhealthy because of the great heat and frequent drafts of both furnaces". Nevertheless, throughout the history of the glassworks, children and young people have been employed there time and again. The local administration had to work several times to ensure compliance with the child and youth protection regulations that developed during the 19th century.
Exact information is no longer available about the ownership of the glassworks. Sometimes in the files and in the literature there is talk of different owners by the name of Becker, but during the last 5 years of its existence the glassworks has been called "Becker, Pfaff und Compagnie". There is also talk of a Schuckmann who bought into the factory at a foreclosure auction in 1868.
It is certain that the glassworks ceased operations in 1881 (deregistration of the trade on August 15, 1880). The reasons given are competition from industrial production methods in better traffic locations and personal accidents in the owner family.
Some of the buildings in the glassworks and the surrounding settlement have been preserved to this day. The Klocke farm is located on the site of the actual glassworks.
The "glassblower cemetery"
Most of the immigrant workers in the glassworks were Protestants , which is why a separate cemetery was created for them in 1854 , the so-called glassblower cemetery . The cemetery was inaugurated by the Büren pastor Granier on April 21, 1854. On May 27, 1873, the owner of the factory donated the cemetery to the Büren parish, making it their oldest property. Since the cemeteries in the Archdiocese of Paderborn were mostly reserved for the Catholic population, Protestants who had died from the surrounding area were also buried there until 1928. Since the cemetery was only forgotten, but never desecrated, the Evangelical Waldfriedhof Altenböddeken was set up there in 2008 .
swell
- Björn Czeschick: The Altenböddeken glassworks , in: Heimatschutzverein Wewelsburg eV (Hrsg.), Wewelsburg. History of a castle village, Büren-Wewelsburg 2012, pp. 695–726
- Wolfgang Feige: Das Bürener Land , Büren 2008, publication series Wir an Alme und Afte des Heimatverein Büren eV (publisher), page 92
- Björn Czeschick, Tristan Klocke: Graves, glass and hard work - The glassworks in Altenböddeken, the history of its establishment and its importance as a workplace , Büren 2005 (unpublished)
Coordinates: 51 ° 34 ′ 14.8 " N , 8 ° 40 ′ 10.9" E