HUTELE BUCOVINEI. FÜRSTENTHAL-VOIEVODEASA (1803–1889)
Bukovinaʼs Glass Hut. Fürstenthal-Voievodeasa (1803-1889)

Summary/Abstract: In about 1800, the Imperial and Royal administrative authorities initiated the construction of the glass huts in Bukovina. Before 1800, two glassworks had been successfully started in Bukovina: Althütte-Krasna Ilski (1793) and Karlsberg–Gura Putnei (1797). Recruited by the Austrian government, glass workers from the Prachin district of the Bohemian Forest, arrived in Radautz, in October 1802, to apply for jobs in the glass factory that had not yet been established. In the spring of 1803, the State Domain Inspectorate decided to set up a new glass factory on the Valley of the Voievodeasa stream (Valley of the Prince, Fürsten Valley or Fürstenthal), near Sucevitza. The glass factory of Fürstenthal began its activity in November 1803 and produced flat glass for windows and concave glass for domestic use. Manufacturers of flat glass and round glass, furnace masonry, smelter, carpentry, stokers, a stamping mill operator and sandwasher, glass cutters and apprentices worked in the factory. The Fürstenthal glass primarly served the cities of Radautz and Suceava, although its artistic mugs, glasses and bottles could be seen in many southern Bukovina communities. Since 1809, the factory has been leased, for different periods of time, to particular entrepreneurs (Jossel Reichenberg, Hartl, Ferdinand Zeidner, Aba Steiner, Wilhelm Dlugoborski, Mane Ruckenstein, Josef Fischer). The glass factory operated until September 1889, when it was destroyed by a strong fire.

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