Cinnabar content. To produce liquid mercury (quicksilver), crushed cinnabar ore is roasted in rotary furnaces. Pure mercury separates from sulfur in this process and easily evaporates. A condensing column is used to collect the liquid metal, which is most often shipped in iron flasks. Associated modern precautions for use and handling of cinnabar arise from the toxicity of the mercury component, which was recognized as early as in ancient Rome. Because of its mercury content, cinnabar can be toxic to human beings. Though people in ancient South America often used cinnabar for art, or processed it into refined mercury (as a
Glassworks Museum of the Ore Mountains in 1750, of Purschenstein Castle was placed under protection. Through grants the house, which is owned by the parish, was refurbished and, with the help of the local branch of the Ore Mountain Club, turned into a museum. In May 1996 the Ore Mountain Glassworks Museum ("Erzgebirgische Glashüttenmuseum") opened its first exhibition. It contained pieces from the roughly 800-year-old glassmaking industry in the Ore Mountains. The exhibition focusses particularly on the history of the Heidelbach Glassworks from 1488 to 1827. Since opening, the museum has also been enhanced by the replica of a glass melting furnace in an adjoining building,