What if this year, for the 2022 European Heritage Days whose theme is the «Sustainable Heritage», the crystal cradle of France was one of your destinations? The Manufacture Saint-Louis was founded more than 400 years ago, in 1586, as a glassware of Münzthal, taking the name of the current of water crossing the valley, before the commune was baptized Saint-Louis-lès-Bitche. It was elevated to the rank of Verrerie royale de Saint-Louis by Louis XV in 1767 and recognized as France’s first crystal factory in 1782. It remains an international reference of the French art de vivre.
Located in the Regional Natural Park of the Vosges du Nord, the valley brings together all the natural elements essential to the practice of glassmaking: wood, sand, ferns, water! Although today the manufacture no longer exploits the natural resources of the surrounding forest, water retains a central place in the workshops of the Saint-Louis manufacture.
The Grande Place, Musée Saint-Louis, a treasure nestled inside the hall, invites you to follow the water route through an extensive immersive circuit from the museum to the village, through the filtering gardens.