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Ovens at the factory in Kufstein.
Flagship store & outlet Kufstein

Give someone the most special gift

that Tyrol has to offer

From a short distance off the highway, a traveler and wine connoisseur can truly experience the unique world of wine glass production at the RIEDEL factory. The glass factory allows an inside look at the glass making process and how the glassware is diligently mouth blown and hand made.

To experience the different senses, RIEDEL offers “Sinnfonie”, an adventure of sensual perception. Visitors also have the opportunity to buy the world’s famous grape varietal specific stemware and prestigious decanters directly from RIEDEL at the onsite shop. Every customer will get their own individual consultation where our experts will answer the important question of, ”Which is the right glass for my wine?”

Sinnfonie

Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Feeling & Tasting

Come and see how our glassmakers create a SINNFONIE from the versatile material of glass. There has been no change in the composition of glass for over 4000 years. It still contains the naturally occurring basic materials of quartz, lime and alkalis which are heatedup to a temperature of 1000 degree celsius to make them liquid and malleable.

At our factory in Kufstein our glassblowers still use the glass blowpipe, an ancient mouth-blowing method with great care and precision to create the world-famous handcrafted RIEDEL glasses. Claus J. Riedel was the first person in the long history of the glass to design its shape according to the character of the wine. He is thus the inventor of the functional wineglass. A positive approach to life is linked to pleasure and enjoyment. Enjoyment is conveyed by our senses, and this is the theme of our multimedia show entitled SINNFONIE. Why not share our enjoyment in our SINNFONIE? Let‘s set off together on a journey through the world of glass and the senses.

We are looking forward to your visit. Welcome to RIEDEL!

RIEDEL Glass Cabinet - Retrospective and Think Tank

RIEDEL Glass Cabinet

Retrospective and Think Tank

The permanent exhibition in the RIEDEL glass factory in Kufstein presents an impressive overview of the history of the eleventh generation family business. It features the most acclaimed glass designs from 1957, when the company made its fresh start in Kufstein, until today.

Titled "Glass Cabinet – Retrospective and Think Tank", the exhibition presents a comprehensive look back on the designs created in Kufstein over the past 60 years. The second part of the exhibition presents highlights from RIEDEL’s history and design work in Bohemia, where the family company originated.

The concept for the exhibition was developed by Maximilian J. Riedel himself. The waveshaped cabinets in the Kufstein section represent the tides of time during which the glass designs evolved from purely aesthetic creations into an internationally ground-breaking functional wine glass concept. The glass series, vases, candlesticks and other glass accessories – all of which were handcrafted and finished in the Kufstein glass factory – provide an overview of the oeuvre of Claus J., Georg J. and Maximilian J. Riedel.

Photos, videos and other personal items round off the concept and provide personal insight into the family’s history. “This exhibition is a retrospective, a homage to the great achievements of my family’s past generations. But at the same time, the Glass Cabinet serves as a think tank for future designs – it provides both inspiration and motivation. For me, its message is: never stand still, always look for new paths and explore how my ancestors also managed to do just that,” says Maximilian J. Riedel, explaining his reasons for presenting the exhibition in Kufstein – the site of the company’s new start in 1957 – and giving the general public insight into the RIEDEL glass tradition.

The exhibition is open to all visitors during the opening hours of the flagship store. Admission is free.

RIEDEL Glass Cabinet - Retrospective and Think Tank
RIEDEL Headquarter in Kufstein, Tyrol
Hand-drawn pencil sketch of a church altar
George and Maximilian Riedel 2017

Maximilian J. Riedel & Georg J. Riedel

Museum RIEDEL-Villa in Desná

Exhibits at the Kufstein glass factory

Claus J. Riedel (1925–2004)

Claus J. Riedel was the recipient of numerous international design awards. His designs can all be admired in the new Glass Cabinet in Kufstein. His typical style – clear, unadorned shapes – thin-walled, mouth-blown glass – soon also caught the eye of the art scene. His designs from the late 1950s and 1960s won many prizes: In 1959, the Corning Museum of Glass named the Exquisit glass the “World’s Most Beautiful Glass”, and in 1960, the Monaco design received the German “Federal Prize for Good Form”. In 1964, Claus J. Riedel created the Montreal – a remarkably simple design – specially for the Austrian pavilion at the Expo in Montreal, and the Burgundy grand cru glass from the iconic Sommeliers wine glass series was even included in the permanent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. All of Claus J. Riedel’s designs were inspired by the Bauhaus style and had a clear concept: form follows function. This principle informs all RIEDEL designs to this day. Thanks to its newly developed, wine-friendly drinking vessels, RIEDEL caused a sensation and opened up a whole new world of wine enjoyment and wine culture.

Georg J. Riedel

Claus J. Riedel’s successors were no less acclaimed. His son, Georg J. Riedel, used his solid expert knowledge to develop the Vinum machine-made glass series, now the company’s bestseller. Through the years, he perfected the philosophy of the varietal-specific wine glass, thus laying the groundwork for the commercial success of the RIEDEL brand. Global corporations such as Coca-Cola and Nespresso rely on this knowhow when developing special drinking vessels. The Glass Cabinet has a special section dedicated to his designs and creations.

Maximilian J. Riedel

The most recent designs come from Georg J. Riedel’s son, Maximilian J. Riedel, the 11th generation CEO and current President of the company. He revolutionised the market with his O stemless glass series and has garnered much acclaim in the world of design with his complex functional decanter designs. He too has received numerous awards from the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco MoMA and the Corning Museum of Glass, among others.

Maximilian Josef Riedel kneels in the forest floor and looks at the historical find.

Bohemia

The Bohemia section of the exhibition is like a map of remembrance that presents the RIEDEL family business in highly personal historic documents. Photographs, sketches and pictures from the family’s private archive illustrate its remarkable history. In addition, selected objects provide an overview of the Riedel generations’ work and significance in Bohemia. The glassmaking tradition of the Riedel family began in Bohemia in 1756. The family lived through both economic upswings and crises, and also experienced major successes and tragedies before finding its new home in Kufstein (Tyrol) in 1957, in the heart of Europe. After World War II the Communist government seized the family’s property. This meant that their entire estate in Bohemia – all their glassworks and private assets – were gone.

1957 A fresh start in Kufstein

With great passion and high personal commitment, and based on the model of their glassworks in Bohemia, the Riedel family built a mouth-blowing glass factory on a deserted industrial site in Kufstein. With the help of the previous employees of the Tyrolean glassworks Tiroler Glashütte, as well as workers from Sudetenland, Bohemia, Bavaria and Austria for whom RIEDEL created 180 jobs, the family breathed new life into this old factory. This was their first step towards a new future and great success.