Claus Josef Riedel
Claus Josef Riedel (born February 19, 1925 in Polaun , Czechoslovakia , † March 17, 2004 in Genoa ) was an entrepreneur and glass designer .
family
Claus Josef Riedel was a son of Walter Riedel (1895–1974), who was president of the employers' association of the Czechoslovak glass industry until 1945. His grandfather was the entrepreneur Josef Anton Riedel (1862–1924), his great-grandfather Josef Riedel (1816–1894) was the owner of numerous glassworks in the Jizera Mountains and was called the "Glass King of the Jizera Mountains".
Life
As a member of the German Wehrmacht in Italy during World War II , Claus Josef Riedel is said to have managed to leave a prisoner transport in Tyrol in March 1946 . With the support of Daniel Swarovski from the Swarowski family of glassmakers, who is also from Northern Bohemia , he gained a foothold in the traditional trade of glass production . His family, the industrialists Riedel in Northern Bohemia, had been expropriated in 1945/1946 during the expulsion of the Germans from Czechoslovakia . From 1947 to 1950 he studied chemistry at the University of Innsbruck .
Together with his father Walter Riedel, who had returned from Soviet captivity in 1955, Claus Josef Riedel bought a glassworks in Kufstein in 1956 and founded the Riedel Glas company as a glass manufacture . In 1969 another company was added in Schneegattern . In 1965 he was awarded the professional title of professor .
As a designer , Claus Josef Riedel designed, contrary to the trend of the time, which preferred heavy, ornate and cut glasses, thin-walled, large-volume and long-stemmed wine glasses that were adapted to the character of the corresponding wine. This is how the Sommeliers range , hand-blown and handcrafted gourmet wine glasses , came into being from the 1960s . He has received numerous international prizes and awards for his designs.
His son Georg Josef Riedel has been running the Riedel company in Genoa since his death in 2004.
literature
- Ferdinand Seibt , Hans Lemberg , Helmut Slapnicka: Biographical lexicon on the history of the Bohemian countries. Published on behalf of the Collegium Carolinum (Institute) , Vol. III, R. Oldenbourg Verlag Munich 2000, bearer of the name of the mentioned Riedel with further references
- Reichenberger Zeitung of October 25, 1974; November 12, 1974; January 20, 1970; March 10, 1965; 5th November 1955
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Riedel, Claus Josef |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Glass professor |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian entrepreneur and glass designer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 19, 1925 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Polaun |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 17, 2004 |
| Place of death | Genoa , Italy |