Zwiesel Kristallglas AG
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Zwiesel Kristallglas AG is a manufacturer of crystal glasses located in Zwiesel,Germany.
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[edit] History
[edit] Founding
On 25th November 1872 sheet glass was manufactured for the first time in the newglassworks. Designer of the glassworks was the Zwieseler carter Anton Mueller. In 1878 a storage hall, a house and stables were added for the factory master, in 1883 the factory pub was openend.
[edit] Sale
On 7th November 1884 Mueller sold the factory with the buildings and a surface area of altogether 3.045 hectars for 36.000 Goldmark to the brothers Theodor and Gustav Tasche in Cologne. The Zwieseler Farbenglashütte Gebrüder Tasche, generally only called Tasche glasworks, was converted into a corporation on 21st June 1898. The share capital of the Zwieseler Farbenglashütten, vorm. Gebrüder Tasche, Aktiengesellschaft amounted to 525,000 Marks.
[edit] Renaming and expansion
On 1st September 1899 a glass plant in Pirna was acquired for 675.000 Marks and the company was renamed to Vereinigte Zwieseler und Pirnaer Farbenglaswerke AG. The share capital was increased to 1.200.000 Marks. The Zwieseler plant supplied antique glass the so called "Pirna Kathedralglas".
The enterprise was constantly extended and equipped with new technical equipment afterwards. The years 1914 to 1918 during World War One as well as the postwar years brought substantial difficulties. In 1924 the production range was extended, as hollowglass was used for the first time for drinking glasses in production.
[edit] Part of Schott AG
In 1927 increasing automation and sharp competition led to the holding of the majority of shares of the Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen which was finally acquired in 1929. The manufacturing of flat glass in Zwiesel was given up completely in 1931 in favor of bottle glass production. At this time the plant in Zwiesel had about 450 persons employed. During the thirties the glass production stagnated. Due to the scarcity of raw materials in World War Two, bottle glass production was stopped altogether on 22nd April 1944 and only war-important optical glass was produced.
Since the Vereinigten Farbenglaswerke AG, as the Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen. was called since 1940, lost their main facilities in Jena due to the war, production of optical glass was continued in Zwiesel, until on 10th May 1952 the new main plant in Mainz was opened.
[edit] Color glass plant
In Zwiesel the color glass plant started manufacturing crystal glass in 1953. In 1961 the machine production of cup glasses began which were quite successful on the glass market. In 1972 the Zwieseler company took charge of the sales department of the well-known Jenaer glas. On 17th August 1972 the company was renamed in Schott Zwiesel Glaswerke AG.
In the seventies a considerable expansion took place. In 1973 an area of about 100,000 m ² was purchased in Zwiesel, on which a new plant was built. The annual turnover increased from 46 million DM in 1971 to 120 million DM in 1978. In 1979 the Schott Zwiesel Glaswerke AG employed about 1900 workers and was one of Europe's largest cup glass manufacturers.
After further developments in the eighties a steady decline in numbers took place due to certain relocations to Eastern Europe. In 2001 the number of jobs had fallen to 569 while the conversion was still at approximately 100 million DM.
[edit] Today
Afer a management buyout in 2001, the two managers Robert Hartel and Andreas Buske acquired the enterprise. This led to a radical reorganization with reduction of the assortment, the selling of stocks and properties as well as a further reduction of the number of employees to approximately 400 workers. Renaming took place at the same time in "Zwiesel Kristallglas AG". Higher price segment catering and hotels were the new areas of concentration. On 1st January 2006 the trademark rights for the traditional brand 'Jenaer glas' were acquired.
In 2006 the enterprise was awarded with the title „Turnarounder of the year“ by the restaurant magazine impulse and the BDO Deutsche Warentreuhand AG[1]. In 2007 the Zwiesel Kristallglas AG was among the hundred winners of a competition for innovation, the „Top 100“.[2] Today the enterprise employs over 700 workers, approximately 500 in Zwiesel and a conversion of over 70 million euro is expected.
On the grounds of the Zwiesel Kristalglass AG the highest crystal glass pyramid of the world (approx. 26 feet high) made from over 93.000 glasses was unveiled on 25th May 2007. [3]
[edit] Literature
"Schott-Zwiesel. Die Geschichte einer Glashütte im Bayerischen Wald" Passavia, Passau, 1979
