1. Ilmenau glassworks
The 1st Ilmenau glassworks was an early modern production facility just outside the gates of the city of Ilmenau . The tradition of today's glass production in Ilmenau goes back to this glassworks. Along with Stützerbach , Gehlberg and Goldlauter, it was one of the first glassworks in the former county of Henneberg and in the Thuringian Forest .
location
The glassworks was right in front of the Endleichtor in Ilmenau at the beginning of today's Lindenstrasse .
history
In 1675, Duke Johann Ernst of Saxony granted the glassmaker Elias Wenzel, who came from near Hanover , the privilege of building a glassworks near Ilmenau. Wenzel mastered the art of not only making window glass and utility glass, but also precious crystal glasses, which even attracted attention at court. Wenzel had acquired this art from an Italian Carthusian monk when he had worked for a long time in the princely glassworks in Osnabrück .
Due to his early death on April 27, 1679, Elias Wenzel took the secret of this closely guarded craft with him to his grave. None of his heirs and journeymen mastered the art of making crystal glasses. Since their price on the market had also fallen at this time, the first Ilmenau glassworks went under just a few weeks after Wenzel's death. The building was sold.
His brother Franz Wenzel worked as a glassmaker journeyman in Goldlauter. In 1687 he approached Duke Moritz Wilhelm von Sachsen-Zeitz in order to set up his own business just like his brother Elias. Franz Wenzel advertised that he could also produce crystal and jewelry glasses. In 1691, he received then the desired license and established later in Allzunah his namesake Franz hut .