A Clear Successor in the Glass Workshop
The flames have been lit once again in the glassblower’s workshop. Young German master glassblower Jule Janssen has moved to Aarhus to succeed Chris Kondrup at the Department of Chemistry as the country’s only scientific glassblower at a university.
The intricate glass flower holding her hair in a bun at the nape of her neck is a clear sign that Jule Janssen’s interest in glass goes far beyond laboratory equipment. She made it herself – in fact, in several different versions.
The same goes for the small, whimsical glass figures she has used to decorate the technicians’ lunchroom in the basement beneath the Department of Chemistry. And for the detailed glass sculptures of hands, which she particularly enjoys making.
This is yet another trait she shares with her predecessor. Chris Kondrup also created art glass in his spare time.
Today, he no longer works with glass at all. Following a cerebral haemorrhage, he left Aarhus University in September 2024.
Over the course of his 34-year career, he made himself thoroughly indispensable to researchers and students at the Department of Chemistry. He did not merely follow researchers’ specifications when producing glass tubes, flasks, containers, and the like – he was actively involved in developing them.
So, the department immediately began searching for a successor. Abroad, that is, because he was the last of his kind in Denmark.
And it turned out not to be difficult to find one.
Knew Chris Already
Twenty-eight-year-old Jule Janssen trained at the Staatliche Berufsschule für Glasberufe in the Bavarian town of Zwiesel and has several years of experience in both serial production of glassware and custom-made pieces.
At the time, she was employed as a technical glassblower at an industrial company in Switzerland, but she had no doubt that she wanted to succeed Chris Kondrup.
She already knew him. While training to become a scientific glassblower, she got an internship at his workshop, and they have been friends ever since. When Chris’ position was posted, he encouraged her to apply.
Incidentally, she is a certified master craftsperson, which means that she could take on apprentices herself should that ever become relevant.
A Transparent Glass World
“Back then, I would never have guessed that I’d end up working here. It’s pretty cool. The world is small, and the glass world is even smaller. But it’s transparent, so to speak, and in this field, everyone knows Chris. I’ve been part of the glass world for eight years now, and I hope that in 30 years’ time I’ll also know all the other glass people,” she says.
Jule Janssen officially started on 1 August 2025, but it has taken her a long time to get settled in the workshop. That is why we are only publishing the interview now.
“Since I arrived, I’ve mainly been repairing glass and making items for people who largely knew exactly what they wanted. I haven’t yet had the chance to co-develop new solutions the way Chris did. But I’m really looking forward to that. That’s why I chose this job,” she says.
Complex and Fascinating
“I appreciate that people take the time to explain their needs. It’s actually a great pleasure. It’s complex, but fascinating. A scientific glassblower needs knowledge and skills across many different disciplines – both within glassmaking and science. But as someone once said to me: ‘Knowledge is also knowing where to find knowledge.’ So, if you know someone who knows, you’ve already come a long way,” she adds.
That is also why she values the collaboration with colleagues in the department’s machine workshop just down the corridor. If she decides that something would work better in metal, she can simply take the ‘customer’ along to one of them.
“Having this kind of direct connection to the end customer is what makes this job fun and interesting and I am looking forward to meet lots of people with lots of interest in glass,” she says.
You can read the article about Chris Kondrup and his last glass here.
And in the slide show below you can see more of the photos from the glass workshop, which AU Photo's Liv Lindhardt Rohde Larsen has shot.
