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The History of
Glass Christmas Ornaments from Lauscha

Text courtesy of Krebs Glas GmbH Lauscha

The little village Lauscha and the glass material - these two belong together for more than four centuries now. With the founding of a glassworks in 1597 the first houses were built and Lauscha got in the process of growing. The first glass-blowers coming from Swabia found perfect preconditions for the execution of their profession in this area.

In the beginning they manufactured bull's-eye panes, drinking glasses and glasses for pharmacy. In the middle of the 18th century the manufacturing of glass lamps was introduced.

It is assumed that a poor glass-blower from Lauscha created the first mould for a Christmas-tree bulb. As he had no apples or nuts for his Christmas tree decoration he used colorful fruits and nuts made from glass instead.

Today Lauscha can have a look back on 150 years of glass blowing tradition - thus it can be called the "cradle" of the glass Christmas tree decoration.

With the help of new technical preconditions like the use of gas instead of oil it was possible to blow and form balls and shapes over a very hot flame.

Very soon the first toy-wholesalers from the region of Sonneberg became aware of these splendid glass items. Then it was only a little step for the Christmas ornaments from Lauscha glassblowers to become famous all over the world. About 1880 the American F. W. Woolworth became aware of the special products from Lauscha and offered them to his customers in Pennsylvania. Only ten years later glass Christmas ornament from Lauscha had a very high export rate. Around 1900 Woolworth ordered 200,000 pieces of glittering balls, angels, Santa Claus items, stars and and other iridescent ornaments.

1923 the first arts- and crafts school for glass was established in Lauscha. The mere impression of the beauty of the materials was one of the central ideas the school wanted to teach. Objectivity and expressionism had great influence on the new shapes and decorations. After World War II the branch recovered and revived former business relations. In GDR times mainly machine made glass balls were produced in nationalized factories. This mass production was not because the people from Lauscha didn't know anymore how to produce molded Christmas ornaments by hand but the economical system of the GDR tried to receive as much as foreign exchange as possible. In 1972 the Thuringian Christmas ornaments branch was completely under the control of the state.

So in 1989, 1300 people didn't know how things would go on. A lot of the former employees started their own business and many of the others became unemployed. In 1991 a trust offered the company for sale. After intensive negotiations Krebs & Sohn, Rosenheim (who are well-known in this branch) bought the parts of the former "VEB Thüringer Glasschmuck" in November 1991.

Krebs Glas Lauscha GmbH was founded. The "new" company did not only fulfill the requisition of the trust but with keeping 158 employees and investing 6 million DM they did even better than demanded.

Today there are about 180 glass-blowers manufacturing Christmas ornaments in the traditional way again. Tools and methods are partly older than 100 years and are protected like a treasure. Every year new moulds and designs will be developed. Tradition and quality combined with marketing, high skills of the employees and optimal producing methods are the basis of the success of "Lauscha Glas Creation" in the international competition.

Every year about 5 million pieces are made by hand. 60 % are exported (mainly to the USA). Exclusive American stores are proud to offer special handmade glass ornaments to their customers. So Bugs Bunny, Snow-white and the seven dwarfs and nostalgic items can be found on the Christmas tree. But such extra items are expensive - people sometimes have to pay $100 for one item.

For the European market "Lauscha Glas Creation" creates different collections with topics like lifestyle, fashion, living, etc.

The decoration of the Christmas tree as well as the whole living area are considered when planning a new topic. For the younger ones who are not so fond of old traditional stuff and who prefer more modern motives, new designs were developed: like Santa Claus riding a motor bike, Santa Claus in an airplane and some other curiosities.

The Art of Making Glass Ornaments

This page was made possible by the generosity of Mr. Bäz of Krebs Glas GmbH Lauscha.

I think every Christmas enthusiast had this dream at least once... what if I could design my own glass ornaments for the tree... how unique and fantastic would that be!

On the following pictures you can see, how hand blown ornaments are made.

	It starts out with an idea and is followed by a drawing.
	Creativity and skills are needed by the artist to turn a ball of clay into the first model of a new ornament.
	The plaster mold made from the clay ornament will become the mold to blow the glass into.
	A raw glass bulb is blown up with sensitivity and solicitude by the glass blower to either become a free form ornament or to be shaped in a mold. The glass is about 700 degrees hot.
	The last stage is when the ornament becomes alive. With a lot of care the final touches are painted onto the different figures and objects to make every piece unique.

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