No the doors is not transparent, in this case there are som sort of brass I think. And the main purpose for the fire is for heat and when you keep the door closed its much more heat effective so to speak, so the fire isn't just for the look.
Yes, its really common in northern Europe, its a fireplace made by bricks to warm the house/apartment, not for cooking, kind of like a radiator. In Swedish its called a kakelugn.
so are these available on the market or is this vintage? and the door looks really small, i guess you can only burn small pieces of wood in it? so beautiful, yet functional, apparently.
Anders Bergstedt Photography