 The art of glass manufacture and its refinement has been cultivated and developed in the Lausitz area for over 500 years. The first documented mention was dated in 1433, in which a glassworks produced greenish and brownish "woodglass". More and more glassworks were founded in the Lausitz forests, primarily due to the high-quality raw materials in the Lausitz sandy soil. As a result the volume of molten glass produced vastly increased and was locally referred to as "transparent gold". The consequent further development of products and techniques in the period 1900 to 1930 resulted in a unique concentration of hollowware production in the Weisswasser area which became the largest glass producing region in Europe. During this period the renowned glass designer Wilhelm Wagenfeld created new directions for the glass industry with his radical new shapes.
These shapes which he developed through to the 1950s are part of today’s modern classical designs. In the year 1960 started the first production of machine-made products. 1969 followed the production of stemware by machines.Until 1991 the 'Lausitzer Glaswerke' were the largest producer of glass in former GDR with around 4000 employees. After german reunification the 'Lausitzer Glaswerke' were privatized. In the year 1996 the 'St?lzle-Obergslas AG' took over the glassworks. |
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