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Tradition Seven Centuries Old On the territory of the Czech state, and before that, in what was the Kingdom of Bohemia, glassworks or their modest forerunners always started their existence in places where there was an adequate supply of fuel, which was found in the forests. Even today, most of the glassworks are located in the sites of their historical predecessors. The best known are the glassworks in the Liberec Region, where mainly utility glassware and costume jewellery are manufactured. The valleys of the Jizerské and Lužické hory Mountains, where the glassworks are situated, are poetically called “Crystal Valleys”. There are some glassworks which were founded as far back as the 16th century, and beside them there are now also glasswork schools, a university running design specialisation courses and a unique Museum of Glass and Costume Jewellery. Such a concentration of glassmakers can be found nowhere else in the world. Other glass industry localities, however, can also be found in the Ore Mountains, the Giant Mountains, the Jeseníky and Šumava Mountains and in Moravia in the vicinity of Zlín, where mainly packing glass is made. Currently the glass industry employs about 17 500 people. Czech glassmaking families always played an important role in development, which influenced the use of the new technologies 58 C z e c h R e p u b l i c – Yo u r Tr a d e Pa r t n e r
in the entire Central Europe. The art of glass melting was a secret which the father passed on to the oldest son. The most important achievements in glassmaking going to the credit of Czech glassmakers are blue cobalt glass melting by the Schürer family in North Bohemia in the 16th century, the discovery of Bohemia crystal in the Müller glassworks in the Šumava mountains in the 17th century and the discovery of glazing and hyaline glass B by Egermann in the first half of the 19th century. Currently, the Czech glassmaking industry comprises the following production sectors: flat glass, packing glass, glass fibre and products thereof, utility glass (which includes beverage glass, decorative glass and art glass) and other special glassware, such as glass apparatus, laboratory glass, glass parts for screens, glass technical apparatus, protective welding glass, optical glass, jewellery semi-finished products, and glass blocks for construction. Currently, the largest glass manufacturing sector is flat glass for construction and transport, followed by packing glass for the food and chemical industries. Another important glass sector, besides ordinary glassware, is the manufacture of luxury hollow glass, decorative glass, and modern lighting fixtures. Bohemian glass for everyday usage is an important export article in the household utility glass category and, in the category of lead crystal, there are cut lead crystal, decorated with paint, drip pen drawing, glazing, high enamelling and engraving, and glass figures. Handmade utility glass and historical replicas are also exported. These glass products, exported to dozens of countries worldwide, go under the name of Bohemia Glass. Luxury goods include, for example, iconic crystal chandeliers, which can be seen in Versailles, St. Petersburg, London, Dubai, Macao, and New York. Source: Czech Radio, Association of the Glass and Ceramic Industry
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Glassmaking has a very old tradition in the Czech Lands. Its roots are to be found in the mountainous areas, where the needed raw materials were in sufficient supply. The first glassworks emerged in the latter half of the 13th and the first half of the 14th century.
