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Stone cutting industry

Posted June 2nd, 2008 by admin

The stone cutting industry has been carried on here for a great length of time. The Romans knew of the agates which were to be found in the neighborhood, and they took the rough stones to Italy for cutting. In course of time, Roman craftsmen settled locally and carried on the grinding and cutting of these stones in order to save their transport to Italy. With the fall of the Roman empire, the invaders withdrew, and the craft was almost forgotten. It was not until the Fifteenth Century that stone quarrying in the lands of the Counts of Oberstein was mentioned.

Methods of communication to neighboring towns were gradually improved, and the finished stones were taken to the trade fairs at Frankfurt-on-Main and Leipzig, where they soon gained an international reputation. In the early years of the Nineteenth Century, the processes of staining agates were exploited, and continual new sources of rough stones being discovered, the industry increased enormously. Fashion played a great part in the demand for certain stones at different times, the local merchants no doubt having a great influence in directing fashion as new fields were discovered. The engraving on stones as well as cameo cutting were once very fashionable, and some fine work was executed. The Germans learned much of this craft from the French, with whom they came in contact during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. There has been little demand for engraved stones in recent years, and the number of skilled engravers is now small. Much more emphasis is placed on the mass production of faceted and cabochon stones, which are normally turned out in huge quantities in definite sizes for the American and other markets.