The origins of the Austrian glass company based in Kufstein (Tyrol) lie in the Iser Mountains (northern Bohemia), where the industrialist Josef Riedel (1816-1894) owned numerous glassworks and was known as the "Glass King of the Iser Mountains". His son Josef Anton Riedel (1862-1924) and grandson Walter Riedel (1895-1974) continued to expand the company. The family was expropriated in 1945/1946 during the expulsion of the Germans from Czechoslovakia. In 1954, with financial help from the Swarovsk family (manufacture of cut gemstones), Claus Josef Riedel (1925-2004) was given the chance to take over the Tyrolean glassworks from bankruptcy. His father Walter returned from captivity a year later. In 1956, glass production was started in Kufstein under the name Riedel-Glas.
Today, the company is run by the 10th and 11th generations of Georg Josef Riedel and his son Maximilian. In 2004, Riedel took over 100% of the shares of F.X. Nachtmann Bleikristall GmbH (the factory was closed in 2009) and with it its direct competitor Spiegelau. The Riedel, Nachtmann and Spiegelau brands operate under the name "Riedel Glass Works". Since December 2004 Maximilian J. Riedel has been CEO of the Riedel subsidiary "Riedel Crystal of America". The USA is now the largest export market.
Claus Josef Riedel was the first to recognise the great influence of glass shape on perception. Namely, that the same wine smells and tastes differently from different glasses. Georg Riedel developed from this the insight that "the content determines the form" and that the typicality of the variety demands different shapes and sizes of wine glasses in which the aroma and bouquet of the wine are optimally shown to advantage. The development work of two generations forms the basis of the glass lines. The company signature "Riedel" is stamped on the base of the glass, and a dot after it indicates that it is second-quality glass. The most important glass lines of the Riedel company are:
Basic: basic range with three types (white wine, red wine and sparkling wine).
Ouverture: Entry-level series with eight types.
Sommelier: In collaboration with the Italian Sommelier Association (ASI), Claus Riedel presented the world's first gourmet glass series in Orvieto in 1973. It comprises 31 types and is the most successful handmade glass series in the world. It also has an honourable place in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Vinum: In 1986, the first machine glass series in history was developed. It comprises 20 types.
Wine: In 1999, this machine-blown glass was introduced for those customers for whom smooth glass was not decorative enough at the table. The series comprises eight types.
