"Do you actually know how and why the first settlements and glassworks were built in the Bohemian and Bavarian Forest in the Middle Ages?

Back then, there was dense, impenetrable primeval forest. The monasteries on the Danube sent monks into the large forest areas to clear the primeval forest and establish the first settlements. Small villages sprang up with everything that people needed to live at that time, they farmed land, livestock and forestry.

And glassworks in particular found ideal locations because the raw materials and materials for glass production were plentiful. There was quartz, which was crushed into fine sand in the pocher mills, and of course plenty of wood for making potash and fuelling the furnaces. The glassworks often remained at one location for many years and the economic benefits meant that the town grew around them. Many of today's place names refer to former glassworks sites.

The tradition of glassmaking in the Bavarian Forest continues to this day."