Glass technology exhibition at the “Deutsches Museum”

On 20thOctober 2013 a special presentation was held for a recent ICG President, Prof Helmut Schaeffer, to mark his retirement after 25 years working with the Deutsches Museum in Munich. His position there as Chairman of the Advisory Board on Glass Technology will be taken by Dr Roland Langfeld, currently on ICG’s Steering Committee and Research fellow at Schott AG. The Advisory Board consists of one representative each from the most important glass industries, a professor, and a representative of the Deutsche Glastechnische Gesellschaft (DGG).

One of Prof Schaeffer’s key activities with the Museum over an eight year period has been the creation of a four volume popular scientific series of textbooks printed in a format and with a content that allows them to be used as guidebooks while touring the various sections of the Museum displays, or as standalone reference texts. The text is printed in both German and English, and is illustrated with numerous photographs. This project has been undertaken with the support of ICG and copies are available for purchase from DGG. While written primarily by Prof Schaeffer other well known personalities within ICG such as Dr R Langfeld, Prof J Varner and Dr K Bange also made major contributions. Profs J Varner, M Cable and J Parker assisted with the translation.

Dr. Langfeld has been a member of the Advisory Board since December 2007, advising and supporting Deutsches Museum on the regular updating of museum exhibits in the Glass Technology department. The world´s largest natural sciences and technology museum with more than 100,000 exhibits presents examples of hollow, flat and speciality glass that illustrate the historic development and current status of glass manufacturing and how it is being put to use. According to the new Chairman of the Advisory Board, his role will involve advising the museum on all issues involving glass from an industry point of view, from manufacturing to applications. “The main focus, however, will be on preparing to integrate glass technology into a new ‘Material and Production’ department,” Dr. Langfeld said.

The first section of the exhibition and the first volume deal with "the material glass", its physical and chemical structure which define its characteristics. Explanations are firmly grounded in Materials Science and the reader is taken by the use of models to an understanding of the evolution of melting technology and glass manufacture. The book goes to the heart of what glass is and underpins the whole series on "Glass Technology in the Deutsches Museum". Volume 2 covers the manufacture of drinking glasses, bottles and glass containers, which make up the most extensive part of glass production. As is the field of "hollow glass" technology in the Department of the Deutsches Museum, the book is divided into two parts. On the one hand, it follows a path from handworking in old glass houses to automatic production in modern factories. On the other, it illuminates the wealth of arts and crafts processing, including an explanation of various decoration techniques. The section “Flat Glass” Technology in the Deutsches Museum is unique and is basis of volume 3 in the series, a comprehensive and compact reference. Unlike drinking glasses or bottles which are often encountered in museums, windows, windscreen washers or mirrors are rarely discussed - even though they surround us everywhere. Even more unusual for a museum is an explanation of how such things are produced. And nowhere else are products and production processes of the past and present found together, with such a vivid exposition using recent originals, models, demonstrations and interactive media. Volume four covers “Special Glasses”; they are distinguished by particular characteristics, .e.g. high optical purity and homogeneity, chemical stability or resistance to temperature change. With the required systematic study of the necessary compositions began at the end of the 19th Century, and provides the newest and most scientific chapter of the story of “Glass”.