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Richard Glässer

Kurort Seiffen, Saxony, Germany • Est. 1932

Richard Glässer has been turning out nutcrackers, incense smokers, and Christmas pyramids from the same street in Seiffen since 1932, when its namesake founder started the business as a small mail-order operation out of his house. Look for the trumpet-playing angel stamped into the base of a genuine piece — that mark, paired with the initials "RG," is how three generations of collectors have told an original Glässer from an imitation.

Every figure still comes off a lathe in the Erzgebirge, the mountain range on the German-Czech border where this whole craft tradition began. Glässer's catalog runs to roughly a thousand items now, from pocket-sized ornaments to the tiered pyramids that turn on candle heat alone, but the hand-painting is still done the slow way, brush by brush, by people who grew up in a town where that's simply what you learn to do.

Map locating Richard Glässer in Kurort Seiffen, Saxony, showing the town's place in the former Soviet occupation zone / East Germany
Where Richard Glässer is rooted: Kurort Seiffen, in the Erzgebirge region of Saxony.
Horizontal timeline of major Richard Glässer company events
Richard Glässer company timeline.
The full story: from a Seiffen kitchen table to a survivor of two German states

Seiffen has been shaping wood since long before Richard Glässer was born. Tin mining sustained the town for centuries, but when the deposits thinned out in the 1700s, miners turned their skill with tools toward wood, and by 1760 "Seiffener Ware" was already being traded across Europe. Richard Gläßer built on that inheritance in 1932, launching a small mail-order wood-art business, and in 1940 he bought the building at Hauptstraße 80 that still serves as company headquarters today.

The Erzgebirge did not stay untouched by the twentieth century's upheavals. In 1933, SA stormtroopers occupied Seiffen's local sports hall to detain political opponents — a memorial stone placed there in 1948 still marks it. Soviet troops entered the region in 1945, and by 1949 Seiffen sat inside the newly formed German Democratic Republic. Glässer's business ran independently through the early DDR years, but in 1972 the state moved through a wave of forced nationalizations, and Seiffen's town chronicle records the Glässer firm among those seized that year — part of a broader push to bring small private workshops under state control.

Reunification in 1990 reopened the door to private ownership, and the business reorganized in 1993 as Erzgebirgische Volkskunst Richard Glässer GmbH. A new production plant near Olbernhau followed in 1997, alongside a demonstration workshop back in Seiffen where visitors can watch the same turning and painting techniques Richard Gläßer would recognize. The company marked its 85th anniversary in 2017, still working from the building he bought in 1940.

Visit Richard Glässer’s official site →

Historical details above reflect publicly available sources as of 2026 and are presented in good faith; company-specific dates for small family workshops are sometimes thinly documented, and we've noted where regional context (rather than firm-specific record) is being described.

Richard Glässer (Richard Glaesser) is a well known brand from Seiffen Germany and are one of the most important and most respected Christmas Pyramid manufacturers in the world. They produce enjoyable and expressive wood turned figurines that are world famous. Erzgebirgische Volkskunst Richard Glässer GmbH, the formal business name of Richard Glässer, produce extraordinarily designed Smokers, nutcrackers, Schwibbögen and so much more. They are proud to still offer the same high quality workmanship that Richard Glässer himself valued; the high quality standards have been passed down generations. 

 

Hand manufactured items still make up the majority of Richard Glässer's product catalog! Christmas pyramids, nutcrackers, incense smokers, musical music boxes, candle arches and tree decorations are almost entirely made by and painted hand. If you were to visit their factory showroom, you can take a factory tour which shows how items are still made by hand and the crafting techniques that have been used for almost a century! You can watch craftsmen work their tiny paint brushes to put glorious details onto each piece.

At the Richard Glässer workshop, we craft Christmas Pyramids, Nutcrackers, Smokers, music boxes, arches, and ornaments primarily by hand. They start with sustainably sourced wood, followed by quality checks and precision machining. However, the heart of their process lies in the meticulous handwork, including cutting, drilling, and sanding. They uphold strict quality standards at each production step to ensure the highest quality.

Each product consists of 20 to 200 individual pieces, reflecting their time-intensive craftsmanship. Skilled hands assemble the components, and their experienced staff paint happy faces and bring the characters to life with their movements. This dedication results in the distinctive Richard Glaesser quality you expect. 

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