Glass factory from Meisenthal, Glass museum and factory in Meisenthal, France.
The Meisenthal glass factory is a museum and working studio housed in a historic 18th-century building. Exhibitions showcase glass art from different periods, and craftspeople regularly demonstrate how glass is blown and shaped using traditional methods.
In 1702 five glassmakers from Soucht, including the brothers Jean Martin, Jean Nicolas and Étienne Walter, obtained from Duke Leopold I of Lorraine permission to settle at Meisenthal; German sources date the founding to 1704. The site was rebuilt through the 19th and 20th centuries, the last furnaces were shut down in 1969, and the glass museum opened in the former administrative building in 1979.
The factory displays works by artists such as Emile Gallé and René Lalique who shaped regional glass art. Visitors can observe in the exhibitions how master craftsmen developed their techniques and which styles flourished across different periods.
The site lies in the heart of the village, with the museum in the former administrative building, the Halle verrière and the Centre international d'art verrier on the same grounds. Glassblowers can be watched at work, especially during the end-of-year season when Christmas baubles are made before visitors. The Maison du maître-verrier Martin Walter at 3, place Robert-Schuman is closed to the public.
Since 1998 the Meisenthal glassworks has produced a new Christmas bauble design each year, blown by hand in the workshop. The site's glassmakers also demonstrate blowing during the Christmas season, making thousands of baubles in front of visitors. The first mention of silvered glass balls at the neighbouring Goetzenbruck works dates from 1857.
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