Waldglashütte in the Reiherbachtal
The Waldglashütte in the Reiherbachtal , also known as the Kreickgrund I glassworks , was a late medieval glassworks located in the valley of the Reiherbach between Polier and Bodenfelde in what is now Solling in Lower Saxony . The relics of the glassworks, which produced forest glass during the 15th century , are now in the ground in a meadow by a small stream. The Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg has been archaeologically investigating the place where there were no buildings above ground since 2012 .
location
The Waldglashütte was about two kilometers north of Bodenfelde in the Reiherbachtal through which the Reiherbach flows, east of the state road 551 at 150 meters above sea level. NN . The site is located at the height of a nameless valley, which used to be called Kreickgrund and represents an eastern side valley of the Reiherbach valley. A small stream runs past the former glassworks, which rises further above near the Heidkopf elevation and flows through the elongated meadow valley of the Kreickgrund. The early medieval forest glassworks in Kreickgrund existed further up in the valley .
General
In the immediate vicinity of Bodenfelde there are at least 11 former glassworks locations in valleys and higher forest areas. The area between Bodenfelde and Nienover has served as a location for forest glassworks for centuries.
Medieval forest glassworks appear in Solling as early as the 12th century, such as the forest glassworks on Giersberg . In the late medieval period of desertification in the 14th century, there was hardly any evidence of a hut tradition, while in the early modern period in the 16th century a new phase of production began, as evidenced by the Waldglashütte am Lakenborn, for example . Up until the 20th century, the wooded Weserbergland including the Solling was one of the most important glass manufacturing areas in Europe. Glassmaking was a specialty exporting trade that was of national and international importance. The huts were mostly in remote forest areas that were not very rewarding for other purposes such as hunting. As the landowners of the forest , the rulers profited not insignificantly from the rent . When after a maximum of 25 years the wood supplies in the vicinity were used up, the forest glassworks moved on.
In glassworks research, there is still insufficient knowledge about the pre-industrial production facilities in forest glassworks. This is due to the poor state of preservation of the soil relics. Often only the lowest parts of the stone foundations and (as in this case) a brick-lined floor remain of the glass furnaces. This allows the outlines and the arrangement of the ovens to be reconstructed, but the construction of the upper parts of the oven can only be guessed at. It can be assumed that the partly poor find location is also due to the glassmakers of the time . After giving up the hut they could have dismantled the plant or destroyed to its trade secret to guard.
discovery
A local researcher discovered the location of the Waldglashütte in the Reiherbachtal in 2004 while looking for a desert . He was aware of a document from Duke Otto the One-Eyed of the Principality of Göttingen , which contained the transfer of ownership of a mill to the Lippoldsberg monastery in the Bredenbeke settlement, which had fallen into desolation around 1400. The local researcher was able to locate the settlement in the Reiherbachtal when he came across stone foundations of earlier buildings near the stream and found medieval ceramics. Since he also found a stone with molten glass in the bed of the stream, which indicated a glassworks, he looked up the stream. About 100 meters from the deserted site, he came across the remains of a forest glassworks through broken glass melting vessels in the creek bed. The place of discovery bears the official name Glashütte Kreickgrund I and is classified as Bo 5 (Bodenfelde). In the Kreickgrund valley, located higher up are Kreickgrund 2 and Kreickgrund 3 or Bo 6 and Bo 7, two further sites of former glassworks or the remains of their production.
Excavation campaigns
2012
The Institute for Art History and Archeologies of Europe (IKARE) at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg carried out an initial excavation in 2012. Like the following excavations, it was supported by the Solling Association, the patch of Bodenfelde and the city of Uslar. The excavation was carried out as a teaching and research excavation by the archaeologist Hans-Georg Stephan with around 15 students. Previously, a geophysical prospecting with the non-destructive method of geomagnetics had been carried out on the site . This allows peculiarities or changes in the soil, such as human intervention through the construction of buildings or furnace locations, to be determined. By using a magnetometer , the building structures of the former glassworks with at least three ovens could be recognized in the ground. During an excavation cut from the creek bed up to the plateau of the hut square and on a small exposed area, foundations of kilns and stones interspersed with glass as well as broken glass were discovered. The finds suggest that the glassworks produced glass vessels for everyday use and window glass between 1420 and 1460. These include blue and red colored glasses that were produced for church windows . A silver pfennig found in Bremen dates from around 1420; he apparently came to the region by ship across the Weser .
2013
During the excavation in 2013, again with 16 students from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, the remains of two glass auxiliary furnaces were discovered, which were badly damaged. Presumably the furnaces and the production hall were dismantled after the end of operations. The size of the company premises suggests that two glass masters worked in the hut. The discovery of a roof tile indicates that the glassworks included permanent buildings that were covered. Since forest glassworks usually did not exist for more than 25 years, the massive construction is an indication of a once worthwhile operation.
The excavators also examined a dump with production residues discovered below the glassworks on the edge of the stream. Below that was greenish, blue and red overlaid glass . Furthermore, fragments of large and thick-walled glass melting vessels were found in the waste dump . The finds show that flat and hollow glass was produced in the hut . The excavation results confirmed that the hut was dated back to the 15th century in 2012. The assessment is based on fragments of found pottery as well as technical ceramics, including remains of glass melting vessels and glass.
The 2013 excavation campaign was originally scheduled to last eight weeks and was extended by two weeks because of the extensive finds.
2014
Ten students from Berlin, Freiburg, Halle, China, Great Britain and Vietnam participated in a five-week excavation in 2014. The finds particularly included fragments from melting ports in which glass was melted. Other finds were blue, green, and red broken glass. From these it can be concluded that the glassmakers at that time specialized less in green glass for everyday use than in colored flat glass, for example for church windows. Findings about the type of kiln could not be gained in the 2014 excavation campaign; this is to take place during another excavation in 2015.
2015
The fourth excavation campaign took place in 2015 and lasted three months. It was carried out by twelve employees in the form of students and workers. The Institute for Archeology, Historical Monuments and Art History of the University of Bamberg and the Berlin University of Technology and Economics were involved in the research. During the excavation, the three participating universities carried out a research project sponsored by the German Federal Environmental Foundation for the damage-free recovery and conservation of medieval glass.
The finds in two secondary and one main furnace included glass harbors and shards of greenish, blue and red glass. According to analyzes, they consist of wood ash glass or wood ash lime glass, i.e. forest glass. There are considerations to exhibit the finds after further investigation as permanent loan in the museum in Uslarer. Geomagnetic investigations showed that the production area of the glassworks without the spoil heaps was about 1000 m².
literature
- Frank Müntefering: From the Middle Kingdom to the Solling. In: Daily Anzeiger Holzminden from August 17, 2013 ( online short version )
- Frank Müntefering: A roof tile and a smooth stone provide clues. In: Daily Anzeiger Holzminden from October 8, 2013 ( online short version )
- Hans-Georg Stephan : The Solling in the Middle Ages. Archeology, landscape, history in the Weser and Leinebergland. Settlement and cultural landscape development. The Counts of Dassel and Nienover. Dormagen 2011, ISBN 9783938473153
- Hans-Georg Stephan: Medieval forest glassworks in the Weserbergland. New research on the beginnings of the technology of the European wood-ash-glass in the Carolingian period and on a 15th century hut landscape on the Upper Weser. In: City - Country - Castle. Festschrift for Sabine Felgenhauer-Schmiedt (= Studia honoraria 34). Leidorf, Rahden / Westf. 2013, ISBN 978-3-89646-553-5 , pp. 377-393.
Web links
- Website for the teaching and research excavation Glashütten Bodenfelde with finds and maps
- Glass trace back to the Middle Ages in: Hessische / Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA) from September 4, 2012
- On the trail of broken glass in Solling ( memento from October 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) at NDR from October 9, 2012
- Medieval glassworks: New search for shards in: HNA from August 9, 2013
Individual evidence
- ↑ Map with the locations of 11 forest glassworks near Bodenfelde
- ^ Roland Henne: Locations of medieval forest glassworks in Hochsolling and in the Bodenfelde area (Part II). In: Sollinger Heimatblätter 1/2005, p. 14 ff.
- ↑ There are over 200 glassworks in the medieval Weser Uplands. ( Memento from January 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: T Tages Anzeiger Holzminden from October 13, 2010.
- ↑ See literature: Hans-Georg Stephan: The Solling in the Middle Ages. P. 446 and desert list p. 468.
- ↑ See literature: Hans-Georg Stephan: The Solling in the Middle Ages. P. 522.
- ^ First scientific excavation of a glassworks in the late Middle Ages. In: HNA of August 8, 2014.
- ^ Finds from earlier glass production in HNA from September 17, 2014
- ↑ Secrets of the glassworks are revealed in: Daily Anzeiger Holzminden of June 30, 2015 (pdf)
- ↑ Jürgen Dumnitz: Traces to the oldest glassworks online in HNA from August 21, 2015
- ↑ Jürgen Dumnitz: Traces of the oldest glassworks as PDF in HNA from August 21, 2015
Coordinates: 51 ° 39 ′ 38 " N , 9 ° 32 ′ 47.9" E