Glasmanufaktur Holzen
The Holzen glass factory , also called Grünglashütte von Holtensen (Holzen), was a glassworks in Holzen am Ith that existed from 1744 to 1768. It mainly produced hollow glass in the form of bottles and, to a lesser extent, flat glass . It was one of the first fixed glassworks in the Weser Uplands in contrast to the mobile forest glassworks . During excavations between 2000 and 2005, the relics of the hut were uncovered, which are located in the garden of a private property. The subsequently covered site has been accessible for inspection since then.
location
The remains of the former hut are located within Holzen in the northern district of Auf der Holzener Hütte . You are in a piece of land that has long been used as a meadow and garden between Hüttenweg and Glashüttenweg. The location-defining factor for the construction of the glassworks was the adjacent forest of the Renneberg on the edge of the Ith with its abundant wood deposits.
history
According to archival sources, the glassworks in Holzen was founded in 1744 during the reign of Duke Carl I of Brunswick . They served the production of bottles, which at that time as bottles of were known. Almost at the same time, a glassworks for hollow and sheet glass and the mirror glassworks on the Green Plan were built in the Weser district of Brunswick with the Schorborn glass factory . The foundations served to build up a manufacturing business in Braunschweig's Weser district in the time of the flourishing mercantilism in the 18th century. A small glassmaking settlement developed around the production building of the glassworks, which continued to exist after the works ended and developed into the current district of Auf der Holzener Hütte. The reasons for the cessation of operations in 1768 are not known. It can be assumed that the resources of the wood deposits are exhausted to fire the glass melting furnaces or that the products are not being sold. In 1770 the manufactory and the associated residential buildings were auctioned off.
Products
The main product during the entire production time of the Holzen glass factory was bottles. They consisted of greenish colored glass, which was based on the composition of the raw materials used. These were bottles for water and wine that were provided with a seal on the glass. The practice of sealing bottles only gradually spread in the 18th century. It named the glassworks or the respective manufacturer as the manufacturer and the bottle size and the filling volume according to dimensional specifications. This was done by sovereign order because of the increasing fraud caused by bottles that were too small. For Holzen in the Braunschweig region , such a sovereign ordinance was issued for the introduction of drawn bottles in 1748.
Numerous different glass seals were found during the excavations. These included motifs with a lion, a jumping horse, a deer, with three leaves or monograms , such as the letters W and C for Carl. I., who, as a duke, initiated the establishment of the glassworks.
The production of bottles took place in wood in mass production . It is known from a traditional report by the Brunnen-Commissar from Bad Pyrmont from 1761 that the hut in Holzen was supposed to produce 30,000 bottles for the health resort. Flat glass for window panes was also produced in a secondary furnace .
Excavations
A first archaeological investigation was carried out in 2000 as a test excavation. Archaeologists came across a culture layer just below the surface of the earth. It consisted of wall remnants and stone settlements with non-local red sandstone as well as bricks with solidified glass mass. Glass breakage was found in the vicinity of the furnace, which was classified as production waste. The excavations continued in 2001 and in the following years until 2005. The remains of a main furnace for melting the glass as well as five auxiliary furnaces, a cooling furnace and the stone work platform for the glassmakers were exposed. On the remains of the workshop there were foundations of the outer walls, which consisted of uncut limestone and indicated a building at least 14 meters long. A half-timbered construction in wood / clay construction is to be assumed. The found material consisted of shards of ceramics and glass, fragments of bottles, bottle seals, frames made of clay and closures for the working openings of the furnaces and glass ports .
As a result, the furnace technology used in Holzen was further developed compared to the techniques of the forest glassworks that had been common up until then . Nevertheless, the glassmakers were still attached to the tradition of the forest glassworks. During the excavations, burnt bricks were found that do not occur in forest glassworks.
After the excavations, the unearthed remains were roofed over for weather protection and released for inspection. An information board was also set up. Several finds from the excavation are shown in the Erich Mäder Glass Museum in Grünenplan .
literature
- Otto Bloss: The older glassworks in southern Lower Saxony , pp. 141–142, (= publications by the Institute for Historical Research at the University of Göttingen. Vol. 9). Lax, Hildesheim 1977, ISBN 3-7848-3639-9 .
- Christian Leiber : An old glass factory in Holzen am Ith in: Archeology in Lower Saxony , Volume 8, 2005, pp. 88-91.
Web links
- Glass history under the earth Newspaper report on the history and excavation of the hut in: Daily Anzeiger Holzminden from August 13, 2004
- Glass bottles were already mass-produced 250 years ago in a newspaper report on the hut in: Daily Anzeiger Holzminden of October 25, 2005
- Brief description of the history and the excavation of the hut (pdf; 75 kB)
- Photo of the excavation work
- Photo of the excavation site with subsequent roofing
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dr. Christian Leiber: A Bouteillen-Manufaktur (1744-1768) near Holzen, South Lower Saxony at: 3rd International Symposium on Archaeological Research into Medieval and Early Modern Glassworks in Europe from July 21 to 23, 2006 in Heigenbrücken / Spessart ( Memento of the original from August 7 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
Coordinates: 51 ° 56 ′ 17.7 " N , 9 ° 40 ′ 20.6" E