Czech handmade glass production makes UNESCO list of world cultural heritage
Czechia has another entry on the prestigious UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage list, having succeeded with the nomination for its handmade glass production. The nomination was submitted together with France, Finland, Germany, Hungary, and Spain.
The art of glass making has a centuries-old tradition in Czechia, dating back to medieval times. The first glass furnace was lit in Bohemia in 1376 and by the 17th century, a major glass industry was founded in the north of the country, around the town of Jablonec nad Nisou, but also in the regions of Zlín and Vysočina.
Despite industrialisation, handmade glass production has survived to this day. More than 5,000 glassmakers, cutters, engravers, painters, jewellery manufacturers and designers work in glassworks, family workshops and studios across the country and their hand-crafted products are sought after all over the world.
Unlike the other countries that have submitted the joint nomination to UNESCO, Czech glass production includes all the techniques involved in the glassmaking process, from grinding, blowing and engraving to painting and producing winding beads.
The Czech glassmaking industry was already recognised by UNESCO in 2020, when it added the production of Christmas decorations made from blown glass beads to the prestigious list.
Czechia now has a total of nine items on the UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The first to be added was the Slovakian verbuňk dance in 2005, followed by the Hlinecko region carnival processions, falconry, the Ride of the Kings tradition, puppeteering, blueprint textile technique, glass-blown Christmas beads and timber-rafting.
