Friedrichsthal mirror glass works

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The Spiegelglashütte Friedrichsthal was the first glassworks in Niederlausitz . It was founded on November 29, 1709 with funds from the Saxon Rent Chamber under Elector Friedrich August I and remained in operation until 1974.

The Spiegelglashütte Friedrichsthal was located on the southern edge of the Brandenburg town of Kostebrau (municipality of Lauchhammer , street: Friedrichsthal), approx. 16 kilometers southwest of Senftenberg . Today some brick barns, houses, factory tracks and the fire station are still preserved.

history

Map of the Senftenberg office from 1757, in the south are the place Costebrau and the Spiegel Fabriqve

Even Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus spoke the elector for the construction of a glass factory in the valley of Pommelheide , since there was sufficient there deposits of wood and suitable sand. But it was only after his death that the Saxon court decided to implement this idea and thus become independent of expensive mirror glass imports. On November 29, 1709, Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann signed the protocol for the construction of the glassworks, including the first construction drawings. Construction of the glassworks began that same year. In honor of the Elector Friedrich August I, the new glassworks settlement was named Friedrichsthal.

The French Sebastian Massar became the first tenant and director of the mirror factory. On December 9, 1709, the Rentkammer approved his lease. 26 people initially worked in the factory. In the first few decades, the production consisted exclusively of mirror and flat glass . In 1787 the manufacture of hollow glass was added. In the meantime, the factory had already gone through a few tenant changes and shutdowns due to a lack of sales and high costs. Production also stood still during the Seven Years' War . The expansion of the product range to include bottles and glasses as well as cost-cutting measures by the ironworks inspector Johann Theodor Roscher , such as the use of local materials, stabilized the company again. This positive trend continued under Hofrat Sahr, who took over the management in 1801. The Spiegelglashütte Friedrichsthal was described in 1806 as a successful competitor of the Bohemian smelters. The white plate glass in particular was in great demand and was delivered to the Weimar City Palace , among others . On the other hand, the casting of mirror glass was finally given up in 1803.

However, political developments once again had a negative impact on the company. In 1813, during the Wars of Liberation , Russian troops set fire to the polishing and grinding plant and took the workers and smeltery inspector Roscher as prisoners to the headquarters. In 1815, after the Congress of Vienna , Lower Lusatia fell to Prussia, including the Friedrichsthal mirror glass factory. Shortly afterwards it was privatized. The first owner was entrepreneur Georg Hartwig Gerke, who had already founded the "Luisenhütte" near Dobrilugk . However, under his leadership, the hut ran into financial difficulties from 1834.

In 1841, Count zu Solms-Baruth acquired the Spiegelglashütte at a foreclosure auction and two years later expanded it with another hut building, Die Neue Hütte . The factory remained in his possession until 1882 and was again successful. Friedrichsthaler Glas was presented at the 1st World Exhibition in London in 1851 and at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1855 , among others . Around 1865 the glassworks in Niederlausitz were converted from wood to lignite . Friedrichsthal initially obtained its lignite from the neighboring Alwine mine. The transport took place with horses until Kostebrau was connected to the Schipkau-Finsterwalder Railway in 1898 .

Glass bottles from the first half of the 20th century, including from the Friedrichsthal glassworks, on display in the Senftenberg Museum

In 1882 Adalbert Wisch from Baruth bought the hut, which also operated a lignite mine and a brick factory. But in 1902 he went bankrupt and the following year Vollbrecht from Dresden and Johnsen & Jürgensen from London bought the hut. It then traded under the name Glashütte Friedrichsthal GmbH and was managed by businessman Paul Schwarzer from Schwepnitz. At that time the company exported two thirds of its products - bottles and glasses of all kinds. In 1914 the first semi-automatic machine was used to manufacture them. During the First World War, production came to a brief standstill when the glassmakers in the Lauchhammer factory had to work on armaments.

In 1921 the hut was converted into a public limited company. In 1923 Bartsch, Quilitz & Co. AG took over the hut, which now traded as the Kostebrau plant . It mainly produced pressed glass and container glass , as well as canned glass from 1932 . The Germania brand became particularly well known . In 1939 the machine production of hollow glass, which had previously been mouth-blown, began. At that time about 120 workers were working in the hut.

In April 1945, at the end of the Second World War, the Red Army occupied the glassworks. The owners were expropriated and a trust administration in Kostebrau took over the management of the company until 1968, which was now called Bartsch, Quilitz & Co. in trust administration, bottle production, Kostebrau and mainly produced bottles. In 1954 it was merged with the Finsterwalde glassworks . As a result, the workforce at the Friedrichsthal ironworks was reduced. Around 1961 the production of water glass began , which was used, among other things, for detergent production in Genthin . The manufacture of container glass ended in 1962 and water glass was the only product left.

In 1969, all companies that had operated under the name Bartsch, Quilitz & Co until then, were combined to form VEB Glaswerk Stralau, based in Berlin. The Friedrichsthal glassworks now bore the name VEB Glaswerk Stralau, Finsterwalde division, Kostebrau plant. In the following years the administrative structure of the glass industry in the GDR changed again and again. The development of the planned economy led to problems in the company. In addition, the competition from more efficient glass factories was fierce and some of the glass workers migrated to the mining industry. In 1974 production in Friedrichsthal was stopped and the glass factory was demolished. The remaining glass workers were given the opportunity to continue their employment at the Finsterwalde glassworks. In 1976, the tower house of the Friedrichsthal glassworks, which had been in existence since 1709, the associated company inn and a large residential building were demolished.

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