Rohrbach (glassmaker)
The Rohrbach were an important family of glassmakers and industrialists who ran several glassworks and industrial companies in the County of Glatz from 1768 to 1945 .
origin
The Rohrbach glassmakers are documented for the first time during the Thirty Years' War . At that time, they owned a hut in the Mohrau valley , a left tributary of the Landecker Biele , which later went under . From 1691 they are occupied in terms of residence in the upper Erlitztal , from 1768 as independent smelter. The founders of this glass dynasty were the brothers
- Ignaz Rohrbach († 1792) and
- Johann Christoph Rohrbach († 1818); acquired the glassworks in Königswalde in 1801 .
Smelters and factories
The following glassworks and glass processing companies are associated with the Rohrbach family:
Kaiserswalde
The Kaiserswalde glassworks on the left bank of the Wilder Adler developed from the Bohemian Friedrichswald glassworks , which was founded in 1662 by Adam Paul Peterhansel . In 1768 the brothers Ignaz and Johann Christoph Rohrbach leased the Kaiserswalder glassworks. It was owned by Stephan Olivier von Wallis auf Plomnitz until 1783 . After several changes of ownership, the Rohrbach brothers acquired the glassworks with the associated Kaiserswalde settlement in 1801. The hut subsequently developed into one of the most successful glass companies. After Ignaz Rohrbach's death in 1792, Johann Christoph Rohrbach managed the hut alone. In 1812 he completely rebuilt it. At the same time, the previous wood-firing system was abandoned and the ovens switched to peat and coal. After Christoph's death in 1818, his wife Elisabeth, née Hatscher, took over the business, which she sold to the glass manufacturer August Hatscher, probably her brother, in 1835.
Schreckendorf glassworks
In 1783 Ignaz and Christoph Rohrbach leased a glassworks from the then Schreckendorfer landlord Friedrich Wilhelm von Schlabrendorf, which had been founded in 1756 by Count Stephan Olivier Wallis. After Ignaz Rohrbach's death in 1792, this glassworks was taken over by his son Karl Rohrbach. The hut was not run very successfully and was abandoned in 1795, allegedly due to lack of wood supplies.
Friedrichsgrund near Rückers
In 1770 the brothers Ignaz and Christoph Rohrbach received the permit to build a glassworks in the forest area northwest of Rückers . For the operation of the hut, 1,500 fathoms of wood were taken from the surrounding royal forests and pure quartz sand from the Nesselgrund forest . At the suggestion of Minister Karl Georg von Hoym , they named the hut after the Prussian King Friedrich II. Friedrichsgrund , whose name was also transferred to the emerging settlement.
In the first few years, Ignaz Rohrbach hired 60 glassmakers, refiners, grinders and decorators as well as other assistants, including numerous skilled workers from the Harrachsdorfer glassworks, to run the hut. In addition to fine crystal glass, fine colorless glass was also produced. In addition to table and chandeliers, other glassware was also supplied for the New Palace in Potsdam, making Friedrichsgrund the most powerful smelter in Silesia. In the 1780s and 1790s, the Rohrbachs built two more smelters and a grinding shop in Friedrichsgrund. After Ignaz Rohrbach's death in 1792, his son Karl Rohrbach took over Friedrichsgrund. At the end of the 1790s, 250 people were employed. Due to the effects of the coalition wars , production had to be temporarily stopped in 1804, but could then be fully resumed. The glassware produced was delivered to France, Russia, Austria and the USA, among others. After Karl Rohrbach's death, Friedrichsgrund passed to his son Ferdinand Rohrbach, from whom it passed to Clemens Rohrbach. He adopted his son-in-law Dr. Victor Kolbe, who then called himself Kolbe-Rohrbach. His widow Veronika managed the hut until it was evicted in 1945. After the transition to Poland, the company was connected to the nationalized glass company in Szczytna ( Rückers ).
New Friedrichsgrund
In 1781 the brothers Ignaz and Christoph Rohrbach established a settlement near Friedrichsgrund for forest workers who were needed to run the Friedrichsgrund glassworks. It was first called Neu Rückers and from 1825 as Neu Friedrichsgrund . After the transition to Poland, it was renamed Batorówek in 1945 .
Waldstein near Rückers
Ferdinand and Franz Rohrbach, sons of Karl Rohrbach, acquired the Waldstein glassworks in Walddorf from the then landlord of the Rücker lordship, Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau , which had been leased by Franz Losky , who later founded the Oranienhütte in Schreckendorf. After the death of Franz Rohrbach in 1880, who at that time was the sole owner of the hut, his only daughter Helene inherited his property, who was married to Captain Bruno Klein. He modernized the company and set up glass grinding shops that were profitable. His widow Helene handed the management over to the glassmaker Knye, who had been trained in the Friedrichsgrunder Hütte. In her will, she named Knye as a partner in the business. Because of the global economic crisis, the company went bankrupt in the 1930s.
Rückers crystal glass smelting works
Around 1870 a finishing workshop was built in Rückers, which came to the Rohrbach company. It was enlarged to a glass grinding shop and operated as F. Rohrbach und Karl Böhme KG . A glassworks followed in 1895, and since 1897 it has been known as Kristallglas-Hüttenwerke Rückers, F. Rohrbach and Karl Böhme KG . In 1930 it became the sole property of the Breslau entrepreneur Wilhelm Knittel, who had been a personally liable partner of the company since 1911.
Artists from the Rohrbach family
- Ignaz Rohrbach (1691–1747), sculptor
- Ignaz Rohrbach (1823–1913), glass painter
- Wilhelm Rohrbach the Elder, glass painter (1823–?)
- Wilhelm Rohrbach (1858–1949), glass painter
literature
- Dietmar Zoedler : Silesian glass - Silesian glasses . Würzburg 1996, ISBN 3-87057-208-6
- Václav Šplichal, Jaroslav Šůla: Bedřichovsko-kaiserwaldský sklářský okruh . In: Kladský sborník 5, 2003, pp. 127–142
Individual evidence
- ^ Adam Langer: Schlesische Biographieen [sic]. Glatz 902, pp. 169-183
- ↑ See Habelschwerdter Kreisblatt 1845/34 of August 20, 1845