Märkisches Ziegeleimuseum Glindow - brickyard museum

Märkische Ziegeleimuseum brick museum provides interesting information on clay mining (documented in Glindow since 1462) and brick-making at the brickworks in Glindow. The little museum is housed in a richly-ornamented, small tower originally built for commercial purposes. A guided tour takes you through the historic production facilities, best known for the famous Hoffmann ring kiln.
The writer Theodor Fontane dedicated a whole chapter of his “Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg” (Walks through the March of Brandenburg) to Glindow, in which he wrote extensively about the production of bricks: “In Werder wird gegraben, gepflanzt, gepflückt – in Glindow wird gegraben, geformt, gebrannt.” (In Werder, they dig, plant and pick – in Glindow, they dig, mould and fire.)

Bricks are still hand-moulded in Glindow to this day. A wooden frame, which is open on top and below, is used to mould up to four bricks. Two brick-makers usually work opposite each other at the same workbench. A suitable piece of prepared clay is thrown into the wet wooden form and pressed into the corners. The surface is smoothed out by scraping off the excess clay. The bricks are then taken from the drying area and stacked in the individual chambers of the ring kiln. The fire then moves from chamber to chamber, making commercial operation possible as the ring kiln can ideally be fired continuously.

Of the 50 ring kilns that once existed in Glindow, the one at Glindow brickworks is the only original one that has been preserved. Today, bricks are made here and in a second kiln for historic preservation purposes.

The “Glindow Alps” with their multifaceted nature trail begin in the immediate vicinity of the brickworks. They can be viewed alone or accompanied by a forester.