History

The discovery of glass is controversial: Whether it were soda blocks bordering a fireplace that melted and decomposed the sand into a viscous mass or rather the further development of glazes and faïences and thus a by-product of burning ceramics could not be clarified completely until now. The main ingredients of the antique glass, however, are known: Soda ash, lime and silicates or in other terms: quartz sand, lime, soda ash and potash.*

This is where the history of the glassworks in the Black Forest begins. The region’s natural resources and raw materials: beech wood for potash, quartz sand which was mixed with potash as well as spruce and fir wood for the melting process were available "in abundance" and led to the settlement of many glassworks.

Over centuries glassblowing was one of the most important crafts of the Black Forest. In the Dorotheenhütte it is still being performed like many, many centuries ago, meanwhile, however, supported by most modern energy and furnace technologies.

 

*”Handbuch des Glases”, Holger Müller, unpublished