Heinrich Gottlieb Köhler

Text Randi Gaustad

Another person who became decisively important for Nøstetangen was the German engraver Heinrich Gottlieb Köhler. He was a court engraver in Copenhagen and engraved a number of trophies for the royal house. But when he borrowed a large sum of money from King Frederik V. and was unable to set up the workshop for grinding and engraving Nøstetangen glass, as he had promised, he had to move to Hokksund. According to the contract, in addition to carrying out engraving, he was to be a sorter and make drawings for installations and chandeliers. Thanks to von Storm's correspondence which is in the National Archives, Köhler's life and activities in Denmark-Norway are well known. His salary at the glassworks was to be free accommodation and fuel, 200rd per year in fixed salary, plus extra payment for piecework. He lived in Hokksund for about 10 years and during that time was what we would call today the "artistic director" of the glass works.

Köhler was primarily an exceptionally skilled engraver and draftsman. The works he carried out in Copenhagen were in the European court style, that is to say, his motifs glorified and glorified majesty, most often with the help of allegories and allegorical figures that express the virtues of majesty. After Köhler came to Norway and the distance to the king's Copenhagen was long, the motifs underwent a total change. In the latter half of the 18th century, there were a number of people in Norway who earned exceptionally good money, they were those who traded in timber and lumber. It was in this environment that engraved glass got its customers. Due to close connections with foreign countries, they were well versed in European trends and fashions. They had little interest in allegories and royal tributes and preferred far more earthy motifs; pictures of s newly built houses, ships or businesses they had interests in..

Köhler left Nøstetangen around 1770 and moved to Christiania. There he continued to engrave wine glasses for the wealthy bourgeoisie and he advertised his services several times in Norway's only newspaper, Norske Intelligenz-Seddeler. Sometime in the 1780s he returned to his family in Copenhagen.