Glassworks on Buchholzweg
The glassworks on Buchholzweg was a forest glassworks in the Taunus in Hesse that produced glass in the 15th century . The remains of the glassworks lie at 543 m above sea level. NHN in a forest area around one kilometer east of the town of Glashütten on the northern slope of the Glaskopf elevation . An archaeological investigation at the location of the glassworks took place in 2002.
Excavations and construction
The location of the glassworks, mentioned in historical literature but forgotten, was found again in 1998. A volunteer from the district archeology department discovered the remains of the soil during site inspections . He found broken fragments in the forest floor and hilly bumps, which he interpreted as the remains of a glassworks. The place is near a forest path called Buchholzweg and directly on the Limes experience path Hochtaunus , which follows the former Roman Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes in this area over a length of 30 km.
At the initiative of the Glashütten Association , in addition to a survey and mapping of the site, geophysical prospection was carried out in 2002 in order to gain insights into the former hut complex without interfering with the ground. In 2002 volunteers carried out an excavation under the scientific direction of the archaeologist Peter Steppuhn .
Only the floor slab was left of the stoking duct of the work stove. Using the stove stones found, a rectangular shape of the work stove with dimensions of 4.5 × 2.5 meters could be reconstructed. The two side furnaces were round and about 3–4 meters in diameter. There were two post holes lined with stone near the stoves . The archaeologists interpret the wooden posts standing in them as part of a wooden roof that served as weather protection for the glassblowers .
During the excavation around 7,400 finds were recovered, most of which were glass fragments. Meaningful individual pieces of the recovered find material were included in the permanent exhibition Waldglashütten im Taunus in the Hessenpark open-air museum in Neu-Anspach . The remaining material is sorted and documented in the warehouse of the State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse . Two types of glass mass were found at the smelter site. In addition to the medium green forest glass, there was clear, light green and almost bubble-free glass, which speaks for a high level of production technology development. The finds suggested that hollow glass , such as cups and bottles, was produced exclusively . There were rib and cross rib cups and cabbage beverages made of green and blue-green forest glass. Since, according to the finds, no flat glass was produced, the two auxiliary furnaces found were sufficient for the production of hollow glass.
Based on the glass and ceramic finds, the production time of the glassworks could be dated to the second half of the 15th century. This means that the glass factory worked around the same time as the glassworks below Dornsweg and the glassworks on the Emsbach Gorge , which were each about a kilometer away. These locations were also archaeologically examined between 2001 and 2005. On the basis of matching finds, the archaeologists suspect that the glassworks on Buchholzweg was connected to the glassworks below Dornsweg , and that it was probably a successor.
The research at the glassworks on Buchholzweg expanded the level of knowledge on the glassworks landscape in the Taunus , which has only played a subordinate role in European glass history.
literature
- Peter Steppuhn with the collaboration of Ingrid Berg: Waldglashütten im Taunus. History - Archeology - Products. Book accompanying the permanent exhibition in the Hessenpark open-air museum. Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 978-3-930095-04-9
- Peter Steppuhn: Results and perspectives of a glass archeology of the 12th to 17th centuries in the Hochtaunus. In: S. Kleingärtner, U. Müller, J. Scheschkewitz (Ed.): Cultural change in the field of tension between tradition and innovation. Festschrift for Michael Müller-Wille , Neumünster, pp. 247–269. ( Online )
Web links
- Description of the glassworks on Buchholzweg
- Glassmaker at Glashütten im Taunus with location maps and excavation photos at History Working Group Glassworks .
- Brief description of the glassworks locations near glassworks
Individual evidence
- ^ High medieval glass furnaces discovered in the Taunus. Great moment of an amateur researcher, Horst Nauk ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at history working group glassworks .
- ↑ Limes Adventure Trail Hochtaunus
- ↑ Permanent exhibition "Waldglashütten im Taunus" in Hessenpark ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at history working group glassworks .
Coordinates: 50 ° 13 '24.6 " N , 8 ° 25' 1.9" E