Modern façade designs and all-glass construction are increasingly calling for dematerialisation and maximum transparency for a sophisticated appearance and a high degree of natural lighting. This is accompanied by large glass spans leading to increasing thickness of glass panels that introduce a high dead load into the supporting structure. The availability of thin glass in architecturally relevant dimensions permits new lightweight design principles and innovative material combinations. Innovative thin glass-plastic-composite panels consist of a lightweight and transparent polymeric interlayer core with scratch-resistant and durable cover layers of thin glass. They offer high stiffness, durability and full transparency at a low specific weight. The raw components of the polymer core are directly cured between the cover layers resulting in a chemical bond between glass and polymer over the entire surface without the need for additional interlayers. The thin glass-plastic-composite panels are currently unknown in the building industry. There is a lack of knowledge about the material and its composite behaviour. It has not been verified as a building product in accordance with the high structural and safety requirements as well as the requirements for durability and optical properties. In order to employ the lightweight design potential for dematerialised and transparent construction suitable for the building industry, there is a need for specific and material-appropriate connection techniques. In the context of this thesis, the novel thin glass-plastic-composite panels are systematically investigated in order to assess them as an innovative lightweight product. For the first time, they are classified in detail for application in the building industry. Material and composite properties using two different polymeric interlayer core materials – polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polyurethane (PU) – are characterised by means of experimental and numerical investigations. Moreover, to achieve maximum transparency, a material-specific connection technique is developed and a wide range of mechanical load-bearing capacities are specified. First of all, the thermophysical and mechanical parameters of the pure polymer core materials are determined in experimental small part tests for the description of the composite load-bearing behaviour. The results identify the PMMA as a stiff, durable but brittle material and the PU as a fairly flexible, viscoelastic material. The investigations on the composite behaviour focus on the demands for use in the building industry and include experimental tests on the durability, the adhesion, the composite load-bearing behaviour as well as the response to hard and soft body impacts. A numerical analysis extends the results of experimental investigations on the structural load-bearing behaviour and examines the thermal expansion behaviour. The results indicate that the new material combination achieves a highly efficient structural load-bearing behaviour and a significant weight reduction compared to conventional monolithic and laminated glass. Application possibilities are derived based on the observed interlayer core material and composite characteristics. Further development of a connection technique as an integrated design into the polymeric interlayer core offers wide-ranging concepts of connecting thin glass-plastic-composite panels. Its functionality and practicability have been demonstrated in a construction prototype exhibited at “glasstec 2022” fair. The present work contains a well-structured material dataset to describe the material and composite behaviour of thin glass-plastic-composite panels comprehensively with two different polymeric interlayer core materials in engineering methodology. The material combination of thin glass and PMMA interlayer core achieves outstanding material efficiency with an effective weight reduction and fulfils the general requirements for application in building industry. A wide range of applications is facilitated thanks to the further development of a slim and integrated structural connection technique. The results of this work provide the framework for the introduction of a new lightweight building product with an innovative structural design to realise maximum transparency of façades and all-glass structures.