On a wet Monday in April, a few ladies set off to the Rückl Crystal factory at Nizbor. The rain didn’t deter us, there was beautiful crystal to see and possibly buy!
After a lovely ride on the train to Beroun we then changed to the small link train which took us to Nizbor; it was all very easy to navigate. There was only a couple of minutes walk to the factory so fortunately we did not get too wet.
We were met by our guide, Iva, her knowledge of the factory was extremely informative.
The glass making family Rückl has been connected with the production of Crystal glass for centuries. They came to Bohemia from Switzerland. Jan Rückl, a glass foreman and entrepreneur established his own firm in 1846 in Cyranuv Ostrov. His son Antoine built a new glassworks in Nizbor in 1903. 1945 began a new chapter in the history of his family empire and it was nationalised. However, in 1992 Jiri Rückl, the great grandson of the founder, regained control of the firm.
We were taken on a tour of the engraving room first where many of the engravers were at their positions. The company focuses on exclusive hand-made production, with master-level glass cutting in two styles – contemporary and classic crystal styles.
One of the engravers took time out to speak to Crystal Telecky and it transpires he was a third generation employee of Rückl. We watched as they were engraving and we admired their skills.
We were then taken into the furnace room which was very exciting! The employees were working on a new product, a lamp, I believe. After they took the product from the furnace they put it into the mould and then moved on to the blowing process. It was then taken out of mould, smoothed and checked for imperfections. Unfortunately, one was imperfect and was smashed but obviously recycled. The process started all over again but you could see the skill and determination of the employees.
After the furnace room, we were led to the company shop where purchases were made. It is here, I bought my first piece of crystal.
A lovely lunch was had by all at a local restaurant before returning back to Prague. On the return train ride, the group expressed great respect for the skills of the many employees working at all the crystal factories in Czechia.
Rückl Crystal Factory info here.
Caroline Davies has been a member of IWAP since 2017. Whilst enjoying her life in Prague she is also trying to find cultural, social and fun events for the ladies of IWAP to enjoy.
Gallery
(click on photos to enlarge)
Photos by Sandra Hill (UK), Sharon Coe (US) and Caroline Davies (UK)
