Lauscha

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Lauscha is a town in the district of Sonneberg, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 13 km north of Sonneberg, and 24 km southwest of Saalfeld.

Coordinates: 50°28′N 11°10′E

"A region lies in the heart of Germany that was almost driven into oblivion because of the division between East and West Germany. This region is the Thuringian Forest, the “Green Heart of Germany”. It starts with Eisenach and Bad Salzungen and goes in a southeasterly direction toward Saalfeld and Sonneberg.

The Culture and tradition of this region stretches back for over 1000 years. Martin Luther translated the Bible at the Wartburg castle. Goethe and Schiller were drawn here because of the wild and beautiful landscape, which invites people to wander and hike and relax even nowadays in summer. But in winter too, holiday makers find many activities in this bewitching woodland. But the residents of this beautiful region had to live off of what the land gave them. The trades established here were also forced to adapt to these conditions. The plentiful timber from the forest served two trades as raw material in the Thuringian Region. It was needed to fuel the fires for melting glass out of quartz sand, soda, potash and minerals, and also in porcelain production for their three stage firing process. The porcelain manufactories established themselves in the northern area and glass huts established themselves primarily in the southern half of the region. The reason for this lies in the ground. Each trade found the needed raw materials in their respective areas. Glass was produced as early as the 12th century. The huts were temporary and existed only until the surrounding timber and raw materials were used up.

A glassworks was built in the valley at the source of the "Lauscha" spring by the glass masters Hans Greiner Schwab and Christoph Müller at the end of the 16th century. But because of disputes with the landowner they asked the Duke of Coburg for wood and building rights for a Glassworks and founded in 1593 a new glassworks about 300 m downstream in the valley where the “Schmiedebächle stream” joins the Lauscha stream. This glassworks was the beginning of the glass maker settlement Lauscha that grew quickly and was the first glassworks in Thuringia that was founded by Protestants from Bohemia and Swabia who escaped persecution. To 1905 they were firing, melting and blowing glass in this same first glass hut. The Huttenplatz square in the centre of town this day, is named in memory of the original location of the first permanent glass so many centuries ago. The results of this early settlement are inestimable today after over 400 years because more than a third of the current 4400 inhabitants depend on glass.

Everywhere you look in Lauscha you will find stores, little workshops, large sales areas and glass factories where a great variety of glass articles are made by hand and sold."

(from the film, Faszination Glas, jointly translated from the German by my boss who is modest, and me, Carol Anne Beckman)

Lauscha is the birthplace of glass Christmas ornaments. Woolworths in the USA started importing handmade glass Christmas ornaments from Lauscha in the late 1800's. Many of the cherished ornaments from your great-grandmothers, grandmothers, and mothers have come from Lauscha, and you might not even know it! The loveliest glass Christmas ornaments are still lovingly made by hand in Lauscha today.

Every year, on the first two weekends of Advent, Lauscha has a wonderful Kuglemarkt (glass ball market) to celebrate the season.

Lauscha has an excellent touristic infrastructure born of being a state endorsed holiday hotspot during former communist times.

We enjoy welcoming guests to Lauscha any time of year.