History

Main milestones of Iittala Group and its brands
The Iittala story began in 1881, when a glass factory was established in Iittala, a small Finnish village, 130 kilometres north of Helsinki. This is where the company’s design heritage began.

1726 Rörstrand was founded in Stockholm at the wish of King Fredrik I

1790 German-born Johan Friedrich Hackman founded a trading house in Wiborg north of St. Petersburg

1793 Captain Jacob Wilhelm De Pont and Harald Furuhjelm founded the Nuutajärvi glassworks

1873 Rörstrand founded the Arabia factory in Helsinki

1881 The Iittala glassworks was founded

1909 Höganäs Keramik was founded as Andersson & Johansson

1912 Høyang-Polaris was founded

1971 BodaNova was founded

2002 The Iittala concept brand was created and the Iittala collection launched

2004 Iittala’s management and ABN AMRO Capital took over ownership of the Group

2006 Iittala Group celebrates its' 125th Anniversary

2007 Iittala Group to be part of the international Fiskars Corporation

2008 Arabia turned 135, Nuutajärvi Glass factory 215, Aarne by Göran Hongell 60, Kartio by Kaj Franck 50, Ultima Thule by Tapio Wirkkala 40 and Kivi by Heikki Orvola 20 years