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The Pfifferdaj, "day of the fife players", is one of Alsace's oldest and most colourful traditional festivals....
Alsatian wood carving draws its origins from the forest abundance of the Vosges and from a centuries-old farming...
Alsatian weaving, with its characteristic colourful check patterns and centuries-old textile craftsmanship,...
Betschdorf pottery - in reality stoneware rather than faience in the strict sense - is one of Alsace's most...
Since 1704, the village of Meisenthal has perpetuated the ancestral art of blown glass in the Vosges forest of...
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The history of glassmaking in Meisenthal, a small village located in neighbouring Moselle but deeply linked to Alsatian culture and craftsmanship, began in 1704. At that time, the establishment of a glassworks in this Vosges foothill region followed precise industrial logic: the surrounding forest provided the wood needed to fuel the furnaces.
For nearly three centuries, the Meisenthal glassworks experienced varying fortunes. In the 19th century it became one of the most active centres of art glassmaking in France. It was in this glassworks that, in the 1880s, a young apprentice designer named Émile Gallé worked, developing the techniques that would bring him worldwide fame.
Meisenthal holds a special place in Christmas history: it is here, according to well-documented local tradition, that the blown-glass Christmas bauble as we know it today was born. Legend has it that an exceptional drought in 1858 deprived the region's apple trees of their fruit, traditionally used to decorate Christmas trees. The resourceful Meisenthal glassblowers had the idea of blowing coloured glass balls to replace the missing apples.
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Like many traditional European industries, the Meisenthal glassworks experienced a gradual decline throughout the 20th century. The factory closed for good in 1969. It was in this context of decline that an ambitious revival project was born in the 1990s: transforming the former industrial site into the International Centre for Glass Art (CIAV).
The Meisenthal International Centre for Glass Art today combines several complementary missions. It is first a place of production, where master glassblowers perpetuate traditional mouth-blowing techniques. It is also a place of contemporary creation, where designers and artists from around the world come for residencies.
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The Meisenthal International Centre for Glass Art can be visited year-round, with glassblowing demonstrations. Located about 45 minutes from Strasbourg, on the edge of the Vosges forest, Meisenthal combines ideally with a broader discovery of northern Alsace.
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