Glasi Hergiswil

Hergiswil lies 10 km south of Lucerne between Mount Pilatus and the Vierwaldstattersee (Lake Lucerne). The glassworks in the village was established in 1818 by the brothers Siegwart. It suffered a threat of closure in 1975, but was saved largely through the efforts of the designer Roberto Niedereeer (1928-88), and now employs about 100 workers. Integrated with the glassworks is the ‘museum formed by fire’, which has sophisticated multi-media displays illustrating the history of glassmaking and of the relationships between the local community and the glass company. There is a sophisticated light show called the glass labyrinth, and an area called ‘Phenomenal Glass’ where visits can chose from more than 70 experiments. There are displays of some of the more spectacular products of the works including coloured glass and pieces of sculpture, and also well-lit ranges of glass-fronted shelves on which an archive of the various drinking glasses made at Hergiswil since 1818 is displayed. Visitors can also look at work in progress in the modern factory, with its gas-fired tank furnaces of 2012. They can watch the glass blowers, now men from Portugal and Italy, and can themselves try to blow glass.

Glasi Hergiswil
Seestrasse 12
6052 Hergiswil
Switzerland
+41 (0) 632 - 3232
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