Waltraud Neuwirth 
SURPASSING THE BEAUTY OF ROCK CRYSTAL 
LUDWIG LOBMEYR 
GLASS LEGEND 
464 pages, 40 color illustrations 
796 black-and-white illustrations 
ISBN 900282-52-8(1999) 
Ludwig Lobmeyr (1829 -1917), for whom glass was “more 
beautiful than rock crystal,” was encouraged to write down 
this record towards the end of the 19th Century by his friend 
Friedrich Pecht. The well known Viennese glass in 
dustrialist teils in this autobiography about the life of his 
father Josef Lobmeyr, the opening of a glass business, his 
own childhood and youth and above all about the fate of the 
famous Company, J. & L. Lobmeyr, in the second half of the 
19th Century. 
It also takes up the difficulties with the Slavonic glass works 
and the resulting prolonged court case against his Hun- 
garian partner Hondl. Travels take up a lot of space, many 
made in connection with visiting and taking part in exhi- 
bitions. Lobmeyr describes in detail the close contacts with 
the Austrian Museum for Art and Industry (founded in 
1864), its director Rudolf von Eitelberger and the leading 
Viennese artists (Hansen, Schmidt, Storck, Teirich and 
others). Important Personalities in Vienna’s cultural life 
gathered for “social evenings” at the Lobmeyr’s. And Lob 
meyr also deals with personal situations; his relationships 
with women and friends and his numerous visits to health 
spas. He also mentions his picture collection and his 
acquaintance with famous painters of the time, among 
them, Alt, Pettenkofen, Spitzweg and Munkäczy. 
The period when the father, Josef Lobmeyr, Sr., led the 
Company (from 1823 until his death in 1855) is to be con- 
sidered a very important phase. Ludwig Lobmeyr 
describes this period which he knew from stories told to him 
and from his own experiences. The drawings in the Com 
pany archives from this time spread out a panorama of Bie 
dermeier glass before us unlike anything ever seen before. 
Josef Lobmeyr was a widely traveled and capable 
businessman. Without doubt, he was one of the people 
who knew the Contemporary glass industry best and was 
able to show his public an extensive selection of glasses 
very soon. Orders based on samples that took the form of 
existing glasses or paper patterns, chiefly went to the Cen 
ters of the Bohemian glass industry. In the beginning 
Lobmeyr was dependent on what they had to öfter, but he 
probably developed his own ideas at a very early stage. 
They led to a remarkable selection that included all the 
successful glasses whatever their origins. 
In this publication Ludwig Lobmeyr’s autobiography is 
accompanied by illustrations taken from the rieh treasures 
in the company’s museum and the archives of the J. & L. 
Lobmeyr Company in Vienna. In addition to glass Objects, 
working drawings and paper patterns there are also Con 
temporary photographs reproduced here. They give us the 
unique possibility to see entire drinking and dessert 
Services and also extensive glass series. The auto 
biography itself is introduced by a commentary by Friedrich 
Pecht, who contributes greatly to defining Ludwig Lob 
meyr’s personality. If the volume of pictures illustrating the 
Contemporary Lobmeyr text appears to be very extensive, 
one must keep in mind that this is still only a small area in 
the Overall production of “Lobmeyr Glass.”