Erich-Mäder-Glasmuseum

Description

Located in Grünenplan in Lower Saxony, the Erich-Mäder Glass Museum is dedicated to early glass production in the Hils and its historical development from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern period. Named after Erich Mäder, the museum situates its collection focuses within the regional context.

The presentation is distributed across two museum buildings. In the centrally located main building, materials on glass production from antiquity to the present are exhibited; a particular focus is on medieval and Early Modern glassworks in the Hils. Another building is a former glassmaker’s house in the historic town centre, which addresses Grünenplan’s development as a glassmaking location since 1744 with the Spiegelglashütte Grünenplan. There, glassmaking tools and information about local bird breeding are on display.

Key pieces of the collection come from the estate of Erich Mäder as well as from archaeological finds of excavated glassworks, for example the Glasmanufaktur Holzen and the Waldglashütte under the Hilsborn. In a separate room the museum documents the history of the Deutsche Uhrglasfabrik GmbH from 1919 to 1980 through objects, documents and photographs. On special occasions the museum also presents temporary exhibitions; in 2015, for example, it showed works by the Fürstliche Glasmanufaktur am Schorborn.

The exhibition concept is conceived as a complement to the neighbouring Glasmuseum Boffzen, which places its emphasis on the industrial development of glass over the past 150 years since industrialisation.