European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 13, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A Glass Blower at the Wolbach factory spins a Glass Globe in a White hot Furnace to Seal the various colors to the surface. Try your hand a Glam blowing people who like to blow things up should Stop by the Glassworks factory in Wolbach Germany. There for Only 10 Marks about $6.50 at the Dorotheen Hivitte Glassworks they can blow a hot glob of Glass into a bottle. Fifteen minutes later the Glass will have cooled enough for them to proudly hold the creation in their hands. The procedure is similar to the one used by professional Glass blowers in the production shop in the next room although the results May be a Little different. The Glassworks staff creates a wide variety of ornate glassware that beginners would be hard pressed to match but which they can buy in the factory store. Visitors can walk through the factory and watch the Glass blowers Grinders and engravers As they work and visit the Glass museum to inspect finished products. But the hot spot for tourists is the visitors mini factory with its roaring oven where children and adults can try their hand at blowing Glass. They Are assisted by Franz Pirker who has been whipping Glass into shape for nearly 25 years at the factory that is about a 30-minute drive from Triberg. First Pirker dips the Long blowing Rod into the intense heat of the Brick oven and retrieves a glowing glob of molten Glass. After dipping the glob into broken chips of Glass to give it a selected color Pirker puts the Glass Back into the oven to melt the Glass chips into Long colourful streaks. Then it s time for tourists to do their thing. While they blow through the Long tube Pirker spins it until the Blob of Glass takes the form of a simple bottle. He then twirls the Rod around like a Baton to further refine the shape sets the bottle Down and expertly separates the Glass from the Rod by tapping along a Cut grooved into the neck of the bottle. The crude bottle May not be a work of Art but then Beauty is in the Eye of the Blower. The Glasswork is open 9 . To 3 30 . Daily. The Glass store is open 9 . To 5 . Daily. For More. Information Call 07834-751. A Chuck Roberts a visitor assisted by Franz Pirker gets a taste of Glass blowing. At left factory Glass blowers resemble an Assembly line As they go through the different Steps of making bottles. A amps photos by Jim Derheim february 13, 1w2 stripes Magazine