Knowing. Doing. Passing On.
Glassblowing, using pipes and other simple tools, is a traditional skill that needs to be preserved. Thanks to an initiative by the Baruth Glass museum and its partners, Glashütte Gernheim and Glashütte Lamberts, the intangible cultural heritage of mouth-blown glass has been added to the German UNESCO inventory of cultural heritage. Visit us to experience it.
Knowing. Doing. Passing on. This slogan is used by the Unesco Program for Intangible Cultural Heritage to raise awareness of living traditions. These are expressions of creativity and the inventive spirit, conveyors of identity and continuity. They are passed from generation to generation and are in a state of constant reinvention. Intangible cultural heritage is often the basis for material heritage.
Glassmakers Pavel Hasala and Mariko Seki are cultural talents. The tacit knowledge he possesses ties him to a tradition that goes back thousands of years. It is this knowledge that needs to be preserved. Rooted in history, their glass studio in the Baruth Glassworks Museum is also bridge to the future. Here, production methods and designs are continually being further developed thanks to the international sharing of knowledge.
The Baruth Glassworks in Glashütte is partner with Gernheim Glassworks (LWL-Industrial Museum) and the Waldassen Glassworks in Oberpfalz. All three are situated on heritage sites: Intangible Cultural Heritage rooted in material heritage.
The current goal of the initiative is to ensure that traditional glass-blowing is recognised internationally and protected by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. To this end, we are cooperating with Finnish, French, Czech, Hungarian and Spanish glassblowers and museums.