Lauchhammer Art Casting Museum

The Lauchhammer Art Casting Museum guards a treasure. It is a historic collection of models, containing about 2,800 reliefs and models made from plaster and metal. There is nothing like it anywhere in Germany. This unique collection, which is under monument protection, is housed in a former school building next to the foundry, which still operates. Alongside the models, the museum also presents the products: A huge range of iron and bronze images, pottery wares, furniture, medals and everyday objects provide a details picture of the art, crafts and technology of the time.

The history of the foundry dates back almost 300 years and starts with an unusual woman: Baroness Benedicta Margareta von Löwendal (1683–1776), the first owner of the factory. A noblewoman who founds an iron foundry? This was unprecedented during the Baroque age! It all started in what had always been a completely insignificant corner of the Niederlausitz region. The "Sun King" of Saxony, the Elector Augustus the Strong, granted permission for the project himself. The fire was lit in the blast furnace in 1725. It marked the moment when Lauchhammer was born as an industrial region.

The Baroness is considered to be the region’s first businesswoman. She had the bog iron ore from her own estates turned into stove plates, firebacks and iron utensils. Benedicta Margareta ran the business for half a century, well into old age. After her death, Count Detlev Carl von Einsiedel (1737-1810) took over. His addition was what soon made the foundry world famous: art casting.

1784 saw a sensational achievement in Lauchhammer: the production of life-sized hollow iron figures. No other foundry in the world had managed this before. In the 19th century, the factory gradually became internationally famous for its high-quality monumental statues and busts, for bells and artistic castings for buildings: cast iron and bronze columns, railings, candelabra, bridges and portals from Lauchhammer still adorn town centres and buildings all over the world today. The bell in Berlin Cathedral, the statue of General Steuben in Potsdam, the animal sculptures in the zoo in Berlin and many of the bronze monumental sculptures of the GDR were made in Lauchhammer.

But the foundry is not just something of the past in Lauchhammer. It is still alive today. Almost 300 years after the lighting of the first blast furnace, metal is still being cast here. And this process that combines craftsmanship and technology is still fascinating. 

Tips:

After pre-booking in the Museum, interested visitors can visit the adjoining foundry – and, with a bit of luck, be there when a new work of art is created from bronze that is over 1000 degrees Celsius.

For cyclists:

The “Art Casting Museum Lauchhammer” is on the following cycle paths: "Lower Lusatian Mining Tour" und  "Coal, Wind and Water Tour"