A new beginning 1946

After the expulsion from the Sudetenland Johannes Oertel and his son in law Dr. Rolf Neuhäuser made a FRESH START in Welzheim near Stuttgart. Fascinated by the noble material crystal, and in the knowledge of the unique ability of the former employees, they did everything they could to bring the former skilled workers from Haida to the new site. With great success: the glass cutters, engravers and painters came back to work for Oertel and in 1947 the first collection of the new production was ready. In the early 1950s Oertel built housing for its staff, and in 1955 brought the scattered elements together in a new-built factory. Oertel now became a permanent exhibitor at the Hanover Fair and later the Frankfurt Trade Fair.

Oertel’s international reputation for high-quality luxury crystal was soon known in the most prominent circles. From the 1960s OERTEL supplied royal families around the world, including the royal houses of Libya, Malaysia, and Persia, and many heads of state, among them Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia. Oertel provided the crystal chandelier for the Opera House in Stuttgart and the crystal lights standing today in front of the Baden- Württemberg state parliament.

In 1956 Johannes Oertel died. His son in law , Dr. Rolf Neuhäuser ran the business on his own. After his early death in 1967 his widow, Maria Neuhäuser, nee Oertel, ran the business and established the core export business of the company. Run since 1978 by her daughter Petra Schütte, OERTEL now exports more than 80 percent of its wares. OERTEL products were presented at international trade fairs in Germany, England, Italy, France, India and the United Arab Emirates.