The Bronze Casting – How a Technique Changed the World

From Saturday, May 30 to Friday, June 5, 2026 Bronze, an alloy of the metals copper and tin, possesses a variety of positive properties: it is easy to cast in molten form, durable, recyclable through melting, has a beautiful gold-yellow color – and is as hard as steel! The earliest finds of deliberately manufactured bronze objects come from present-day Iran and Afghanistan from the 4th millennium BC, from where the knowledge of the alloy spread south, east, and west into European regions. Here too, it quickly became clear that bronze was superior to stone tools. As a result, the societies of Europe began to change fundamentally. A continent-spanning trade in the precious, and in many places very rare, tin flourished. The use of bronze enabled new techniques and economic practices. The population grew, conflicts simmered, institutions were founded... Much of what seems familiar to us today began to take shape during this time, known as the "Bronze Age." Experimental archaeologist and bronze smith Erik Häußler imparts knowledge about this important era in his forge and simultaneously demonstrates how and with what tools bronze was processed. Tip: In Mr. Häußler's forge, guests have the opportunity to create a personal metal amulet.