About Riedel

The Riedel family entered the glass business in 1678, when the glass culture first developed in part of Bohemia known as Sudentenland (now Czechoslovakia and Poland). For more than three hundred years, eleven generations of Riedels have kept the family business flourishing.

When the company suffered through two great wars, eighth generation Walter Riedel (1895 - 1974) proved his resolve and leadership skills. Europe's tumultuous political climate forced the Riedels, now the leading makers of perfume flacons, colorful gift items and chandeliers to work for their dreaded occupiers, the Nazi government. Walter Riedel, a mechanical genius skilled at advancing mould techniques soon found himself "employed" by the Nazis to create picture tubes to be used in radar  a unique achievement with mixed blessings.

When the Russian army conquered Berlin in 1945, they found an intact tube, and eventually its maker, and sent him to Russia as a prisoner for ten years. The family lost everything, but upon his return, Walter Riedel turned to his friends the Swarovskis. The Swarovskis offered Walter and his son, Claus J. Riedel, a new start in a glass factory in Kufstein, Austria in 1956.

The ninth generation saw a revolution in stemware, with Claus changing the traditional colored and cut glass to the now-ordinary plain, unadorned, thin-blown, long-stemmed glass. He gained immediate recognition, signaling a new era in glassmaking.

The 1970s, 80s and 90s saw expansion of Riedel to include subsidiaries in Canada, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and Riedel USA. Under the leadership of Georg Riedel, the company purchased German-based Nachtman and Spieglau companies, operating all three under the name "Riedel Glass Works," making it among the largest producers of quality glassware in Europe, making Riedel the world's leading wine glass company.

After more than three centuries of glassmaking, the Riedel company is known by wine-lovers the world over for its unique, stylish decanters and glasses designed to make wine drinking an unforgettable experience.