Tradition Seven Centuries Old

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

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