Coburg Glass Prize

Competitions 1977, 1985, 2006

In 1977 the first open modern glass competition in Europe was held in Coburg. This was a groundbreaking event for the Veste Coburg Art Collections. The overwhelming response to this Europe-wide competition and its crowd-pulling exhibition turned Coburg into a centre for modern art in glass overnight.

After the successful 2nd Coburg Glass Prize in 1985, the Museum of Modern Glass was created in 1989 in the gardens of Schloss Rosenau to house the greatly expanded exhibition – at that period, the first museum in Central Europe devoted exclusively to modern glass. The two Coburg Glass Prizes were of tremendous importance for East European glass art, which in Coburg gained a forum the likes of which had never previously existed. It gave many East German artists especially their first-ever chance to exhibit in the West and brought them into contact with other European artists and their works.

With the 3rd Coburg Glass Prize in 2006, all eyes on the European glass scene once again turned to Coburg. Twenty years had gone by since the previous competition, during which time glass art had radically changed. The 2006 competition and exhibition provided major international momentum. A foundation set up and largely funded by Otto Waldrich subsequently constructed a new building for the much expanded exhibition of modern glass in Schloss Rosenau gardens.

The European Museum of Modern Glass was officially opened in autumn 2008

Coburg Glass Prize 1977

Competition

  • 260 artists
  • 1200 works

Exhibition

  • 196 artists
  • 531 works
  • 19 countries

1st prize

Ann Wärff (Ann Wolff), b. 1937 Germany, lives in Sweden

2nd prize

Bert van Loo, b. 1946 Netherlands

3rd prize

Raoul Goldoni, b. 1919, d. 1983 Yugoslavia
Willem Heesen, b. 1925, d. 2007 Netherlands
Pavel Hlava, b. 1924, d. 2003 Czech Republic

17 honorary prizes

Coburg Glass Prize 1985

Competition

  • 636 artists
  • 4000 works

Exhibition

  • 233 artists
  • 564 works
  • 20 countries

1st prize

Erwin Eisch, b. 1927 Germany

2nd prize

Bertil Vallien, b. 1938 Sweden

3rd prize

Johannes Hewel, b. 1947, d. 2009 Germany
Diana Hobson, b. 1943 United Kingdom
Jaromír Rybák, b. 1951 Czech Republic

16 special prizes

Coburg Glass Prize 2006

Competition

  • 485 artists
  • 1200 works

Exhibition

  • 173 artists
  • 236 works
  • 24 countries

1st prize

Josepha Gasch-Muche, b. 1944 Germany

2nd prize

Udo Zembok, b. 1951 Germany, lives in France

3rd prize

Zora Palová, b. 1947 Slovakia

Otto Waldrich Prize

Jens Gussek, b. 1964 Germany

Barbara Koppelstätter Prize for Young Artists

Lada Semecká, b. 1973 Czech Republic
Ellen Urselmann, b. 1978 Netherlands

Prize for Engraving, endowed by Kurt Merker GmbH

Gareth Noel Williams, b. 1970 United Kingdom, lives in the Netherlands

Alexander Tutsek Foundation Prize

Wilken Skurk, b. 1966 Germany

© Europäisches Museum für Modernes Glas