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

Samples from Jablonec export houses and glass negatives are online

In 2025, the Museum of Glass and Jewelry in Jablonec nad Nisou received a grant from the National Recovery Plan. The amount exceeding CZK 1.5 million was used to digitize and make available online the pattern books of Jablonec export houses and glass negatives. The grant was provided by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic as part of a program to digitize cultural assets and national cultural monuments.


In 2025, the Jablonec Museum digitized two unique collections of items thanks to financial support from the second digitization project under the National Recovery Plan. The project included 600 volumes of sample books and related accounting and business documentation from Jablonec export houses from the 1920s to the 1940s, and a collection of nearly 3,000 glass negatives from the Rössler Studio, which was one of Jablonec's renowned photo studios between 1930 and 1937.

"Both collections are among the treasures of our depositories. Because they are very susceptible to damage during any handling, digitization is the way to make them accessible. Thanks to the project, researchers and the general public can view them online," explains museum director Milada Valečková. The specific nature of the materials and the large scope of the resulting digitized files led to the museum collaborating with external specialists with cutting-edge technology and experience. "This made it possible to process and make selected parts of the collection available in the highest possible quality," added project coordinator Kateřina Hrušková.

The digitized collection of samples and related period materials provides insight into the product range and relationships between Jablonec manufacturers, exporters, and their customers from the 1920s to the period of nationalization. "The museum manages the business records of 72 export companies that operated in Jablonec until 1945. Of the more than 1,500 volumes, 611 were digitized last year," said Hrušková. The glass negatives from the Rössler photo studio mainly capture portraits of people, mostly residents of Jablonec nad Nisou and the surrounding area from the 1930s. "The subjects of the portraits come from all walks of life. There are newlyweds, children of various ages, women and men in period fashion, and pets and their proud owners," added museum librarian Kateřina Benešová, who cares for the photography sub-collection.

The museum has published the results of the digitization in a freely accessible online database of its collection at www.msbcollection.cz. "The database has been available in Czech and English since 2023. Our users connect not only from the Czech Republic and European countries, but also from the USA and New Zealand," concludes Director Valečková.

13.1.2026