Idar-Oberstein

Idar-Oberstein, in the hills of the Hunsrück on the river Nahe in western Germany, is Europe's best-known gem town. Agate and jasper were found and cut here from the late Middle Ages, using water-powered grinding wheels on the streams. When local deposits ran out in the 19th century, emigrants from the town found agate in Brazil and shipped it home, and Idar-Oberstein became a world centre for cutting and trading coloured stones from every continent.

What you find

Coloured stone cutters, carvers and dealers, many in family firms going back generations, known for fine cutting and fantasy cuts; agate and hardstone carving; and the institutions of the German trade: the German Gemmological Association (DGemG) with its school, laboratories and the German Gem Museum.

How trading works

Dealers work from offices and workshops and sell to the trade by appointment and at fairs. The town hosts gem events and is a common stop for buyers travelling between European fairs.

Visiting

• The German Gem Museum (Deutsches Edelsteinmuseum) shows gems, crystals and cutting from around the world.
• The historic Weiherschleife grinding mill shows how stones were cut on water-powered wheels, lying on wooden benches.
• The Edelsteinminen Steinkaulenberg is a former agate mine open to visitors.