Glassworks Museum of the Ore Mountains

The Glassworks Museum of the Ore Mountains (German: Glashüttenmuseum des Erzgebirges) is located in the old socage vault (Fronfeste) of Purschenstein Castle in Neuhausen/Erzgeb.

The museum displays include a glassworks from the time of Georgius Agricola, as well as a workshop (Werkstattstube) and other writing implements and tools of Ore Mountain glassmakers as well as the history of Neuhausen and Purschenstein Castle.

"The Four Evangelists", four round panes of glasse painted with enamel, made for Purschenstein's castle chapel and dating to the year 1612, may be seen in the exhibition.

Through grants the house, which is owned by the parish, was refurbished and, with the help of the local branch of the Ore Mountain Club, turned into a museum.

Nuppen are typical glass ornaments that imitate shimmering, coloured gemstones but also serve to improve grip.

On 12 and 13 August 2002, when a hundred year flood occurred, the museum, which lies on a hill, was damaged by the overflowing waters of the adjacent castle pond, but was able to be restored thanks to a fundraising campaign and has since been reopened.

The end of the Heidelbach Glassworks around 1827 was mainly due to its outdated smelting technology and strong competition from the Bohemian glass industry at that time.

With the closure of glass furnaces in Carlsfeld in 1979 the history of glassworks in the Saxon Ore Mountains came to an end.