Claus Josef Riedel
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Claus Josef Riedel (19 February 1925 – 17 March 2004) was a Czech (Born in Kořenov near Jablonec) glassmaker, businessman, professor of chemistry, and
chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...
. He was the 9th-generation owner of Riedel Crystal, an Austrian glassware manufacturer that was established in 1756. Riedel is best known for creating and producing grape variety-specific glassware designed to enhance types of wines based on specific properties of individual grape varieties. He was among the first glassware experts in history to recognize that the taste of wine is affected by the shape of the glass from which it is consumed, and is credited with first discovering the concept of variety-specificity in glassware, developing variety-specific glassware shapes and bringing these glasses to the consumer market. Riedel served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Riedel Crystal from 1957 until 1994.


Biography

Claus Riedel was born in Polaun, now part of Kořenov,
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
(present-day Czech Republic), to Walter Riedel, a glassmaker, and Claudia Prollius Riedel. Claus Riedel was drafted by the
German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
in World War II, where he fought Italian partisans in Tuscany and Liguria. In March 1945 he was captured by American forces and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp near
Pisa, Italy Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
for ten months. In January 1946, while being returned to Germany for repatriation, Riedel escaped by jumping from a train entering Austria.
Claus Josef Riedel, Crystal Maker Who Suited Glass to Wine, Is Dead at 79. Riedel remained in Austria, finding a job with glassmaker
Daniel Swarovski Daniel Swarovski (24 October 1862 – 23 January 1956) was a Bohemian-born Austrian glass cutter, jeweler, and founder of the Swarovski crystal dynasty. Early life Swarovski was born in Georgenthal, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (now Jiřetín ...
, who had once been an apprentice to Riedel’s great-grandfather Josef Riedel. He also enrolled in the
University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. ...
in Tyrol, where he studied chemistry. After graduating, he spent five years working various jobs throughout Europe. In 1955 he was contacted by The Austrian People’s Party Prime Minister, Reinhard Kamitz, who invited him to take over the bankrupt Tiroler Glashütte glassware factory.


Restarting the Riedel company

Walter Riedel had been employed during World War II by the Germans to blow vacuum tubes for electronic equipment. In that capacity he had been captured by the conquering Russian army in 1945, and taken to the USSR as a prisoner of war. After ten years he was released, and found his way to Austria, where he joined Claus. With assistance from Swarovski, the two Riedels were able to reopen the glassware factory by 1957, turning it into today’s Riedel Glass Factory in Kufstein, Austria. Prior to World War II, the factory had produced heavy industrial glass, but upon reopening, Claus Riedel changed its focus to fine hand-made glass. Claus Riedel served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Riedel Crystal from 1957 until 1994, when he turned the reins over to his son Georg Josef Riedel, who later was succeeded by his son Maximilian Riedel, who is the current President and CEO of Riedel Crystal.


Design Innovations

As a glassmaker, Riedel was interested primarily in function over appearance, and broke away from the traditional richly cut, heavy and thick glass designs of the time. He spent 16 years studying the physics of wine delivery to the mouth and taste buds and experimenting with different glass configurations, matching them with wines of different regions, grape origin and age to create stemware that would match and complement specific wines and spirits. He was among the first glassware experts in history to recognize that the taste of wine is affected by the shape of the glass from which it is consumed. From these experiments, Riedel created the Burgundy Grand Cru glass in 1958, made to enhance the flavors and aromas of the Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo grape variety, specifically for Burgundy, Barolo, and Barbaresco wines. This creation was first exhibited at the World Exhibition in Brussels, Expo 58 (The Brussels Worlds Fair), where it received a Gold Medal for its creative and striking design. It was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York for the museum’s permanent collection. In 1961, Riedel Crystal introduced the first full line of wine glasses created for different wines. Riedel perfected these variety-specific wine glasses in 1973 with the introduction of his most notable glass collection, the Sommeliers Series, the world’s first gourmet glasses.


Awards and nominations

Claus Riedel was honored with 28 design prizes and awards for his creations. Notable honors include: *1958: World Exhibition,
Expo 58 Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...
, Brussels – Gold Medal *1958: Museum of Modern Art, Burgundy Grand Cru glass selected for permanent collection *1959: Sommeliers Series Burgundy Grand Cru glass awarded Most Beautiful Glass in the World, Corning Museum of Glass *1960: La Triennale di Milano, Silver Medal *1966: American Institute of Interior Designers Award


Personal life

During his lifetime, Claus Riedel was married five times to four different women (he married Ute two separate times). On 17 March 2004, Riedel died in
Genoa, Italy Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...
from heart failure while visiting family. He was survived by his fourth wife Ute, by two children from previous marriages (Georg Riedel and Barbara Riedel Orehounig), and a son (Wenzel Riedel) by Ute Riedel.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riedel, Claus Josef 1925 births 2004 deaths People from Jablonec nad Nisou District 20th-century Austrian businesspeople Glass makers Sudeten German people German Army personnel of World War II German escapees German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States Escapees from United States military detention