Glass surfaces are defining elements of facades and represent a significant contribution to the authenticity of building monuments. Glass as a material is considered an important testimony of its time. Depending on the manufacturing process, it differs both in surface and material composition. The period of high modernism (ca. 1880-1970) overlapped with the technical developments of the industrial revolution, which led from manual production to industrial production. The further development of the manufacturing processes as well as the dimensions and qualities of the glass thus shaped the development of the glass constructions, which had to be made increasingly slimmer over time in order to ensure a high degree of transparency. Today, historic windows are often replaced by new glazing made of float glass, which can cause the authentic character of buildings to be lost. A team around the research project of the Technical University of Dresden and the University of Bamberg, both in Germany, has therefore set itself the goal to examine in detail the glass and its construction in the period from about 1880 to about 1970 and to define the living character of industrially manufactured glass from the time before the introduction of float glass as an authentic and style-defining feature of the time. The present work focuses on the chronological presentation of the development of historical glass designs. In particular, the relationship between the development of the glass pane size and the frame construction is discussed.