Helena
The power of Glass Manufacturing
About Us
First mentions to Poiana Codrului glass manufacturing date back to the 1770s when several families of glass manufacturers where brought here from great distances to the order of the nobel earl Károlyi Sándor. The first factory is mentioned 1801, which continued to function until 1945.
After 1945 some locals managed to take over and reopen the factory following considerable joint efforts.
During the nationalization phase around 1948, it has been decided not to nationalize the factory in order not to further deepen the already considerable financial losses.
A remarkable growth of the factory took place from 1952 after nationalization, with the introduction of methane gas. This enabled increased exports to countries as diverse as the USA, Germany, France or Italy. As a result, the factory flourished and, at its peak, it employed over 2000 workers, thus playing a key role in the economy of the region.
After 1990, the factory entered in decline and finally went bankrupted.
Yet, in 2012, a German family, saw as its mission to revive the heritage of its ancestors. To that end, the family started an ambitious project of building a modern glass manufacturing establishment in their own back garden.