Exhibitions and museum port

From manual manufacture in the 1890s to machine production. Marvel at all three eras of industrialization in the Brickworks Park. Exciting exhibitions at original sites on the topics of industrial culture and technology give an insight into the development of the brick industry in the region.

Exhibitions_Mascot Ringofen_©ZP_Illustrator Oliver Eger

Zehdenicker brickyard - the largest in Europe

Can you imagine that this green landscape was once characterized by smoking chimneys, rattling light railways and steaming excavators?
In 1887 clay was "accidentally" found during the construction of a railway bridge. In just a few years, the region developed into the largest brickworks area in Europe. The various exhibitions in the brickworks park in the original buildings and factory halls tell the story from the early days of the 1890s to the closure of the last brickworks in 1990.

Ziegeleipark Mildenberg_360 degree tour©Screenshoot

museum port

The expansion of the Havel waterway in the last century offered optimal conditions for the Zehdenicke brickworks. Every brickworks had a factory port or a sheet piling on the Havel. For over a century, almost all of the brick production was transported by ship and that is why people still say today “Berlin was built from a barge”. The original Finow-Maßbarge is still moored in the museum harbor of the Ziegeleipark, but due to renovation work you will not be able to see it again until later this year.

Exhibitions_Museumshafen_©justconnected

Multimedia exhibitions in Ringofen III "Building Blocks for Berlin"

Follow the saying "Berlin is built from the barge". You can see two exhibitions here: In the former firing canal you can find out why it is said that Berlin was built from the barge and how hard the work at the brickworks was. Through old documents and state-of-the-art technology, you can experience the history of the Zehdenick brick industry from 1890 to 1960 in fast motion.

Interactive Museum_Ringofen III

Impressive exhibitions in Ringofen III on Friedrich Hoffmann

With the invention of the ring kiln, it was possible to continuously and en masse produce the building material for the up-and-coming Berlin. The exhibition can be found on the burner stage of the ring kiln III.

On the former burner stage, everything revolves around the life of the Berlin master builder Friedrich Hoffmann and his groundbreaking invention. In 1858 he applied for a patent for the "ring oven". This started the industrialization of brick production. Get a taste of this groundbreaking invention!

Exhibitions_Friedrich Hoffmann in the ring kiln III_©justconnected

Machine brick exhibition "Workers in the VEB"

Experience in a multimedia production how hard the work in the "state-owned enterprise" was in the days of the GDR.

There are also stories and anecdotes from former brick factory workers who leave lasting traces. In addition to sound and light installations, the tour of the exhibition offers a special highlight for young and old: walk through a firing channel of the ring kiln with a glowing brick in your hand. The color of the brick changes depending on the firing temperature.

Exhibitions_Ring Kiln II_©justconnected

Old workshops

Each brick factory had its own workshops for various tasks. Here, in the brick factory park, the "old workshops" consist of a blacksmith's shop, locksmith's shop and wheelwright's shop. What is special about the old workshops in the brickworks park is that almost all of the machines are driven by transmission. Thus, many machines could be driven by just one steam engine via belts and shafts.

Exhibitions_Old Workshops_©justconnected

Old processing

In the old processing facility, the clay was mixed with additives and formed into a homogeneous mass. Bricks could then be painted from this mass. With 12 clay cutters (as the machines that mixed in the aggregates were called), the present preparation was absolutely the largest in the region. In the brochure “Streifzüge – Gründerzeit. How a brick is made..." you will find out everything you need to know about brick production and thus also about the "old processing".

Exhibitions_Old processing_©justconnected

Brickworks in Stackebrandt

At the time, in 1927, the Stackebrandt brickworks was the most modern brickworks in the region. The complete production of bricks - all under one roof. Preparation of the clay, shaping of the blanks, thermal drying and firing in the ring kiln.

Everything is driven by the steam engine, which is still working today and which you can admire during the daily guided tours.

Exhibitions_Steam Engine_©justconnected

Ball mill gallery

current exhibition: "Five-year PLAn PLAn exhibition"

We were able to create almost 500 plans as part of a funding project from the Ministry of
Have science, research and culture in the state of Brandenburg digitized.
We have over 6000 plans in the Ziegeleipark archive.
Which one do you choose?
The plans exhibited here have something in common: they were all made in 1953
Ramen of the GDR's first five-year plan
from the design office for industrial construction Berlin I
prepared.

They form an almost
complete series.
The GDR's first five-year plan for the period 1951 to 1955 was an economic development program,
which was introduced by the government of the GDR under the leadership of the SED.