Erich-Mäder-Glasmuseum

The Erich-Mäder-Glasmuseum stands in Grünenplan, a village in the Hils hills of Lower Saxony. It occupies two buildings: a main house in the village centre and a former glassmaker’s house in the historic quarter. The main house traces glass production from ancient times to today, with a focus on medieval and early modern glassworks in the Hils. The second building shows how Grünenplan became a glassmaking town after 1744, when the Spiegelglashütte Grünenplan was founded. Exhibits include glassmakers’ tools and local bird-breeding history.

The museum’s core is the collection of Erich Mäder, who ran the Deutsche Spiegelglas AG and was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 1972. It also displays finds from excavated glassworks such as Holzen and the Waldglashütte under the Hilsborn. In 2015 the museum marked International Museum Day with a special exhibition of pieces from the Fürstliche Glasmanufaktur am Schorborn. A separate room covers the history of the Deutsche Uhrglasfabrik GmbH from 1919 to 1980 through objects, documents and photographs. Together with the nearby Glasmuseum Boffzen, it offers a full picture of glassmaking in the region.

Visitors walk through rooms filled with glassware, tools and documents that tell the story of Grünenplan’s craft. The former glassmaker’s house still has its original workbenches and kiln, giving a sense of daily life in the 18th and 19th centuries. Outside, the Hils hills provide quiet walks among beech woods and old charcoal pits. The museum’s displays are arranged chronologically, so each room leads naturally to the next. Labels are clear and objects are well lit, making it easy to follow the development of glassmaking from simple forest furnaces to modern factories.