Gernheim Glass Works, Industry museum in Petershagen, Germany.
Gernheim Glass Works is an LWL-Industriemuseum site in Petershagen-Ovenstädt, housed in the buildings of a glass factory that operated from 1812 to 1877. Its brick furnace tower, almost 18 m across and 20 m high, stands beside a grinding workshop, a basket-weaving workshop, the factory owners' house and rows of timber-framed workers' dwellings.
The Gernheim glassworks was founded in 1812 by Bremen merchants Johann Christoph Friedrich Schrader and Cornelius Lampe on the Weser steep bank near Ovenstädt. It operated until 1877, briefly resumed in 1892–1893, and was acquired by the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe in 1983; the museum opened on 7 November 1998.
Glassmakers here work using traditional methods passed down through generations, shaping the material with pipes, wooden molds, and scissors. You can watch them demonstrate these skills during visits, seeing firsthand how the craft continues today.
The grounds can be explored on foot, and you should wear sturdy shoes as paths are uneven in places. Guided tours with working craftspeople are available to show how the processes work.
The cone kiln dates to the 1800s and is one of only two such structures still standing in Germany. Its distinctive shape was essential for reaching and maintaining the extreme heat needed for glass production.
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