Mecklenburg Forest Glass Museum
● Langen-Brütz
Who knows that glass is made of sand? A small museum in Langen Brütz is dedicated to the topic of glass and its production.
Over 600 exhibits bring the old craftsmanship back to life in the Forest Glass Museum. The exhibition focuses in particular on Mecklenburg Forest Glass. Its name comes from the fact that the ingredient - ferrous sand - turns green when it melts. Another reason is that a lot of wood was needed for glass production, which is why the glassworks were built directly in the forest. A few hundred years ago, Mecklenburg was one of the largest glass centers, as the iron-rich sand was found here, potash could be extracted as an additive, and there was plenty of wood and water available. The potash was extracted from wood ash, whereby only a small amount of the original volume (about one thousandth) could be obtained by leaching and annealing wood ash. Most of the energy required to produce forest glass - 80 to 85 percent - was used to produce potash. Depending on the type and condition, one to three solid cubic meters of wood were needed to produce one kilogram of glass.