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|Bundesland: Niedersachsen||Lower Saxony|
Hann. Münden is situated at an elevation of 217 m at the confluence of the rivers Fulda and Werra into the river Weser in southern Lower Saxony. The first mention in a document dates from AD 802 (Gimundi, today Münden's quarter of Altmünden).The new town was founded about 11751175. By 1183, Münden had obtained the formal status of a city. Münden thrived as it had received the privilege of stockpiling in 1247. This privilege (in effect until 1823) meant that all goods that were to be transported through Münden by foreign traders had to be put on sale in town first. From 1488 until 1585 Münden was the residence of the Dukes of Calenberg-Göttingen, a side line of the House of Braunschweig-Lüneburg of the Welfen family. During the Lower Saxon-Danish War of 16251629, Münden was conquered in 1628 by general Johann Tserclaes von Tilly (15591632) of the Catholic League who killed more than 2,000 of the 2,800 inhabitants of the town. Between 1776 and 1782 Münden was the place of embarkment for soldiers that were leased to England by the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel for the North American War of Independence. In 1819, the first steam ship reached Münden on the river Weser from Bremen. The railway line from Hannover via Münden to Kassel (Cassel) (Hannoversche Südbahn) was opened in 1856. Since the administrative reform of 1971 the official spelling of the town's name is Hann. Münden which had inofficially been used for a long time already, Hann. being the abbreviation of Hannoversch, referring to the former Kingdom of Hannover. Even the popular pronunciation has become 'Hann-Münden' today. The old town of Hann. Münden, which boasts more than 700 half-timbered houses dating of a period spanning six centuries, was protected as a cultural monument in 1996.
The picture on the glass shows the former Lokomotivführer-Heim (Engine drivers' home) [left]. In order to improve health-care for their members, the 'Verein Deutscher Locomotivführer' (Union of German Engine Drivers) founded a recreation and convalescence home for engine drivers who, during their active duty regularly had to work for some 350400 hours per month. The house was opened in 1903 and operated until 1981 when it was sold to the city of Münden. Since then, no new function for the building was found and it was neglected. During the 1990s, a private investors group planned to renovate the building in order to open an old people's home. However, due to financial problems nothing has happened since then and the building, once listed as an architectural monument, continues to fall into dereliction.
Famous people of Münden:
Gustav Heinrich EBERLEIN (18471926) was born in Spiekershausen near Münden. The sculptor, painter and poet is regarded as one of the
most important exponents of Historism in Germany. His private collection of paintings, caster plasts and models of his own works, established
in the castle of Münden at his own expense, became part of Münden's 'Altertümer- und Eberlein-Museum' in 1898. Most of the plaster figures were
deliberately destroyed in 1960 to use the material for new floorings in the castle.
The best-known figure of Münden, however, is certainly Johannes Andreas EISENBART (Eysenbarth; born 1663 in Oberviechtach/Bavaria, died 1727 in Münden). He became one of the best known doctors and surgeons of his time. He specialized in the treatment of cataracts (for which he developed a special needle), polyps, hernias, bladder concrements, harelips and cancers. Because of his reputation, he received special privileges from ten german countries. In order to attract patients as customers, he employed a troop of comedians. This, however, is also the reason why, in later centuries, his name became synonymous for dubious and even cruel medical practices. In order to correct the traditional misconceptions about the merits of Eisenbart, a theatre festival was founded in 1955/58. The play 'Das Spiel vom Doktor Eisenbart', based on the results of historical research, now is one of the centres of the cultural life of Hann. Münden.
Glass no. 2233 [left] is a souvenir from the "II. Mündener Heimatsfest 1909". It shows the Weserstein (stone monument at the river Weser) and the
Steamships were used on the Weser river from 1843 onwards. For a long time travel by ship was cheaper than travel by rail so that the ships remained popular until the early 20th century. In 1851 the shipping company "Oberweser Dampfschifffahrt" offered a daily downstram connection from Hann. Münden to Hameln via Bad Karlshafen where the ships stopped to wait for the arrival of the trains from Kassel, Marburg and Eisenach. On four days a week the journey continued from Hameln to Minden and Bremen. On further seven days a month the ships were reserved for the transport of emigrants who continued their journey to the US or Canada from Bremen or Bremerhaven. The journey by ship from Hann. Münden to Bremen took three days, the onward journey to America further eight to ten days. The best-known ships on the Weser river were the paddle wheel steamers "Kaiser Wilhelm" (named for German Emperor Wilhelm I), "Kronprinz Wilhelm" (the later Emperor Wilhelm II; the ship previously had been named "Meißen") and "Fürst Bismarck" (founder and first chancellor of the German empire). The "Kaiser Wilhelm" still operates as a museum ship on the river Elbe near Lauenburg, the remainders of the "Kronprinz Wilhelm" are exhibited in the German National Maritime Museum of Bremerhaven; the fate of the "Fürst Bismarck" is not known.
Several glasses of this collection show other Bismarck monuments.
Several glasses of this collection show other ships.