Precious stones from the Bohemian Paradise

The brothers Jan and Václav Fišers from Turnov. Their alleged voyage to Venice, five years of efforts to seize the local secret of secrecy, return to Turnov, dozens of wasted attempts and then - finally success! In 1711 they made the first glass for the production of artificial stones.

THE GLASSHOUSE IN NOVÝ SVĚT

It was in 1712, when Elias Müller built his glassworks on the estate of the Harrach Counts in Jilemnice. It continued in the traditional production of glass, which was produced on the border of the Giant Mountains and the Jizera Mountains in the middle of the 14th century. Even today, you can see not only metallurgical production and blowing glass, but also a hundred-year-old grinding shop. It is driven by a water turbine and transmissions used to distribute the driving force.

ELIAS PALME

Elias Palme, one of the most famous luminaire manufacturers, continued the tradition of chandeliers in Kamenický Šenov. Industrial production of chandeliers was started in 1724 by Josef Palme in Prácheň.

ELDORADO OF BEADS AND SEED BEADS

Surely you would not find in the whole Principle and in the broad surroundings of a person who would say a crooked word about Jan Šourek. After all, it was as if he had come to the Principle of Prosperity and Welfare. As soon as he took possession of the reeve, life in the village began to turn for the better. He was one of the first to venture into the world for business.

JOSEF RIEDEL

Josef Riedel, king of the Jizera Mountains glassmakers, was born in Hejnice in 1816. He was the representative of the sixth generation of the glass family and imprinted his footprint indelibly on the slopes of the Jizera Mountains.

FRIEDRICH EGERMANN

JOSEF PFEIFFER

Josef Pfeiffer - Jablonec entrepreneur and mayor, who was involved in the development of jewelery exports. Everything is confirmed at the imperial court and in 1866 Jablonec became a town during his reign.

BLOWN BEAD and its way to the tree

People can make sense of time and numbers, but not us, beads. However, I have heard that they have been blowing me in the mountains for more than a hundred years. As a bead would put it, that is a long time. You, who have never seen how a bead is born, you don´t know how beautiful life can be....

MELTED GLASS SCULPTURE

In 1920 the first Czech glass school was founded in Železný Brod, thanks to which the town became a center of glass art.

Mapa

Inspired by Crystal Valley

Rautis

Address

Poniklá 153, 51242 Poniklá
Navigate to

Phone

+420 483 300 036, +420 733 737 430

E-mail

info@rautis.cz

Opening hours


Excursion to the production open, we recommend booking online.

 

Creative workshop and company store open:

Mon - Sun 9.00 - 17.00

"The glass company Rautis from Poniklá in the Krkonoše foothills succeeded in its inscription on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage of mankind with its production of Christmas decorations from glass blown beads."

We are a family company Rautis, a.s. from Poniklá, and we produce traditional Christmas decorations from glass beads. Apart from Christmas ornaments, we also produce decoration for festive tables and corporate events, room decoration and flower curtains.

At the beginning of the 20th century, they started to produce blown glass beads in the Jablonec region and The Giant Mountains. The biggest boom was in the 20s and 30s of the last century, but the production managed to survive until today.

The journey of glass bead decorations is quite long. First, we must blow it from a glass tube, then we silver it, paint and draw on it and cut it. All of these steps are done manually. Then our bead is ready to be strung on a wire. The variety of designs is great. In the beginning, they produced mainly imitations of everyday objects, means of transport and animals. Then they added typical Christmas motives – stars, angels or treetops.
Currently, we are the only producer of this kind of decoration in the world. We have managed to save old designs and bead moulds, maintain manual production and keep the production in a place it had started – in Poniklá in the Giant Mountains. 

The company is now opened to the public, and visitors can see the whole process of production. The excursions take place every day, even on weekends.

Poniklá is the only place in the world where they managed to preserve traditional bead craft. The first workshops for blown beads were founded here at the end of the 19th century, and many families started to make their living producing beads. The method of blowing beads and the production of ornaments hasn´t changed much since the beginning. In our company, you can see the whole process – blowing from glass tubes, silvering, painting and cutting, followed by the assembly of ornaments. Everything is done by hand, and during our excursion, you will notice that every bead passes at least six hands before becoming part of an ornament.

The excursion takes about 40 minutes, and after that, you will get a chance to visit our creative workshop and make your own ornament. 
Our excursions are in the Czech language, for foreign visitors we prepared some additional materials in English, German and Polish language. 
We recommend you to book your term in advance (online reservation system), so you do not have to wait – our capacities are full especially during the summer holiday and pre-Christmas time.
Excursions for larger groups of people must be booked in advance via phone or email info@rautis.cz.