Glashütte Silberhütte, Archaeological site and cultural heritage monument in Bärnau, Bavaria, Germany
The Glashütte Silberhütte is an archaeological site in Bärnau with remains from a 17th-century glassworks featuring visible foundations of production buildings, workshops, and residential structures. The layout reveals how different stages of glassmaking took place across the area.
The site was founded in 1614 when Paulus Schierer established a glassworks near Silberberg, an area named after a silver mine that operated until disrupted by the Thirty Years' War. This broader regional history shaped the conditions under which glassmaking developed.
The workers and craftspeople lived directly alongside their workplace, shaping the local community through their daily presence and specialized skills. You can still see how closely housing and work were connected through the remains scattered across the site.
The archaeological site is accessible via marked paths that wind through the area, connecting different sections of the former glassworks. Information panels along the routes help orient visitors and explain what they are looking at.
Around 1660, roughly seven glassblowers worked here alongside a master and three assistants, producing everyday items like drinking glasses and medicine bottles on a modest scale. This small workforce reveals how specialized craftsmanship was organized at a regional level in that era.
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