After 1850, the art of glass underwent a certain decline in Bohemia from an excessive attachment to the decorative techniques and aesthetic criteria of the Biedermeier period and the Rococo Revival. Export declined considerably. The will to renovate production and to reconquer its place on European markets led to the foundation, in 1856, of the Specialised School of Glassmaking in Steinschönau. It was directed by the painter Jan Dvorák` and was the first establishment of its kind in the entire world.

In 1880, the school became a public establishment and provided education in drawing, glass-engraving. It also offered training in painting (mainly on glass and porcelain).
The course lasted 3 years.

In 1880, the Steinschönau school created an engraving class taught by artists of the
‘J.&L. Lobmeyr’ firm: Karl Pietsch (1880-1883), Franz Ullmann (1883-1887) and Otto Pietsch (1888-1919). As of 1886, its director was the Viennese architect Leo Chilla.

The school collaborated closely with the Steinschönau Glassworks, influencing its production and thus contributing to its European reputation. The local industry advantaged from the numerous technological discoveries carried out by the School. The School responded to the demands of the market, but was also influenced for several decades by the Lobmeyr House of Steinschönau.

Students of the establishment (painters, engravers, commercial agents) worked in all the glass-making centres of Bohemia, but their fame grew beyound its borders, in various cities of Europe and America.