Riedel
Bohemia, in the seventeenth century, became the glass making capital of
Europe. The region’s vast forests gave the glassmakers all the timber they
needed to fire their ovens and this was, in 1678, in Sudetenland, where the
Riedel story began with Johann Christoph Riedel. He was a glass trader, working
as far a field as Spain and Portugal selling glass at a handsome profit.
Johann Christoph’s son, Johann Carl, worked cutting and refining glass in his
own workshop. But the family’s real break came following the Austrian – Prussian
Seven Year War. The destruction of property that this war brought meant that a
major re-building program ensued. It was Johann Leopold Riedel who opened the family’s
first glass works in 1756, making replacement windows for the re-development
work. His claim to fame was that he invented a method of replacing stained glass
with normal windowpanes.
When his son, Anton Leopold Riedel, took over control of the family business, he
implemented major changes to the factory’s operating procedure. He abandoned
windowpanes and, instead, concentrated on chandelier parts and ornate glass.
Two generations later, the company was re-located Polaun. This was the
industrial revolution and coal was much cheaper to buy than wood, not to mention
much more efficient. With good rail links, Polaun was an ideal choice for both
coal deliveries to the plant and transporting the finished goods away. The
factory employed 1200 workers making mainly glass beads and blanks to sell to
polishing shops. Marketing of the produce was carried out by a series of trading
companies. Selling the beads as far a field as India and South America.
Unfortunately, because the beads were sold through the trading companies, the
Riedel name never appeared on any of the beads until later in the 19th century
when Josef Riedel The Younger took the helm. He was an excellent chemist and
engineer and mechanized the cutting of the beads as well as introducing a whole
host of colors. In 1890 the Riedel name started to appear on the beads for the
first time in the family’s history.
When Claus J. Riedel took over the company he started to create glass art forms
and, in doing so, achieved much recognition from the likes of museums and the
cream of society. Many design awards were granted and this was the dawn of a
whole new era for the Riedel Company. He was the first to recognize how the
right stemware could make a drink look more appealing. This observation promoted
the concept of choosing the correct glass for the wine and has altered the shape
of stemware forever.
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