In 1823, Josef Lobmeyr opened a small glass shop off Karnterstrasse in the city center of Vienna. Within two years business was flourishing and in 1835 the first large table service was delivered to Emperor Ferdinand. Lobmeyr eventually became purveyor to the Imperial Court of Vienna. The company also made table settings and chandeliers for the Schonbrunn Castle.

Under his two sons, Josef Jr. and Ludwig, Lobmeyr soon achieved worldwide recognition. And began exporting chandeliers to India, Egypt, Turkey and America. After his father's death, Ludwig Lobmeyr became director. Ludwig was a great patron of the arts in Vienna and did much to foster working relations with Bohemian glass factories.

In 1902, Ludwig's nephew, Stefan Rath, who had studied under Josef Hoffmann at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna, began designing work for the firm. Hoffmann later commissioned Lobmeyr to produce his designs.

After World War I, a branch factory was founded in Kamenicky Senov in northern Bohemia. Such designers as Rath's wife, Marianne Rath and Adolf Loos started work for the company. Lobmeyr was particularly successful at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes of 1925 in Paris.

In 1938, Hans Harald Rath became director and Stefan Rath moved to Kamenicky Senov where he was director until 1951. Crystal chandeliers were produced for castles in Krakow and Poznan; after World War II, chandeliers were also produced for the Vienna State Opera House (1955) and the Metropolitan Opera House (1966) in New York City.

After Hans Harald Rath's death in 1968, his three sons, Harald Rath, Peter Rath and Stefan Rath took over the firm and further chandeliers were made for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC in 1970 and for the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet at the Kremlin in Moscow in 1971.

Today, the tradition of superb craftsmanship continues as Lobmeyr continues to furnish exquisite lighting fixtures to palaces, opera houses and special spaces worldwide including the recent remodel of Bergdorf-Goodman on 5th Avenue in New York City.