First results of the cooling rate dependent vitrification process of a silicate melt in the cooling rate range between 0.1 and 30,000 K/s are presented. These results are compared with the temperature dependence of the shear viscosity. The results indicate that rule of the proportionality between shear viscosity and cooling rate holds for the silicate glass. It Is also indicated that the thermal retardation time is significantly larger than the shear stress relaxation time derived from viscosity measurements.