A monumental conic tower on the banks of the river Weser calls to mind what was, for a time, one of the most important factories in North-Rhine Westphalia: the Gernheim Glassworks. The tower not only served as a chimney for the smelting furnace, it was also the glass makers workplace. The factory produced a great number of different products including glass for everyday use, artistically decorated bottles, glasses and coloured "flashed" glass. A large amounts of Gernheim's glass production was shipped abroad via the port in Bremen to be sold in Europe, America and India.
The Gernheim glassworks were in operation from 1812 to 1877. In 1892/3 glass production was resumed but failed after only a few months. It was not until 1975 that the partly ruined site was rediscovered as an "industrial monument". It took almost two decades of restoration, historical research, collecting exhibits and working out a feasible concept for the museum before the museum finally opened on November 7th, 1998.