Christmas Eve 1757 was A magnificent glass altarpiece consecrated in Haug Church in Eiker. The engraved inscription says that it was made and donated to the church by a group of glassworkers at Nøstetangen Glasværk.

It is almost 1 meter high and designed in a graceful rococo style, and the engraved inscription tells us that it was made and donated to Haug Church by a group of glassworkers at Nøstetangen.

The work - the first of its kind in Norway - was only a few minutes' walk from the church. In 1757 it had been in operation for half a century, and the management, with the tireless county magistrate Caspar Herman Von Storm in Christiania at the head, had drawn up an artistic program for the enterprise and summoned experienced specialist workers from abroad to be able to fulfill it. According to the inscription, there were three Germans and three Norwegians who jointly worked on the pillar, and from what we otherwise know about these people we can imagine how the work on the pillar was divided between them. The very artistic glassblowing work was undoubtedly done by Franz Wenzel or Sigfried Ledel, both of whom were of German origin and prominent members of the working community.

Franz Wenzel was none other than the lodge master himself, he was responsible for ensuring that the lodge's numerous workforce was efficiently utilized and kept under the necessary discipline, and - most importantly in this regard - he was the one who carried the lodge's most precious secret, the recipe for its fine crystal.

On the day the altarpiece's many parts were to be processed, Wenzel probably ensured an extra fine "melt". Ledel was an inventive and versatile glassworker, he could build a glass furnace as well as draw models for fine glass goblets.

He and Wenzel are the ones who have shaped the beautiful doublets that dangle so gracefully around the candle's collar, and who with loving hands have laid glass threads in fine patterns around the base. While working at the furnace they were assisted by the three Norwegians whose names appear together with theirs on the candle: Michelsen, Christensen and Gram. Many years later Christian Michelsen became one of the most prominent glassworkers in Norway and even a cabin master at Hurdals Verk. But in 1757 both he, Christensen and Gram were still young men in the apprenticeship stage.

Heinrich Gottlieb Köhler was also German and in 1757 had just arrived at Nøstetangen from Copenhagen, where he had worked for several years as an engraver for the court. Köhler was not only a skilled artist, but also a skilled mechanic. It was probably he who designed the drawings for the candlestick, instructed the blacksmith in constructing the iron skeleton on which it is built, and explained the shapes of the glass parts to the glassblowers. It was also Köhler who, with his engraving tool, engraved the inscription on the large central ball on the shaft.

In addition to the names of the champions, he quoted David's 96th Psalm:

"Give the Lord the honor of his name, bring gifts and come to his courts."

The inscription testifies to the piety and genuine joy of giving that characterized the six Nøstetangen workers during their work.

The altarpiece from Haug Church clearly tells through the inscription when and how it was made, and what its purpose was. It is rare that the study of old Norwegian glass is so simple – as a rule the researcher must unfold all his ingenuity and combinatory ability to solve their riddles. It is especially at the stage of the engraved symbols and images that one has to play detective. But when it happens that the calculation suddenly works out and the problem one was faced with has really been solved, then one's joy and pride are as great as the detective's when he can expose a suspect - and very unmixed joy.

It is precisely Köhler who causes the most headaches and the greatest pleasures. He is so strangely logical. His use of data and images, symbolism and realism, coats of arms and initials can always be interpreted and explained - if only one can find the key to it all.