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Glass Blown Ornaments Still Made In Europe
Posted on Sun, Oct. 09, 2005
M O R E N E W S F R O M
• Glass
• Czech Republic
• Europe
• World News
Blown-glass ornaments still made in Europe
ANDREA SACHS
Washington Post
Q. My family and I will be traveling to the Czech Republic and Germany and would like to see where traditional blown-glass Christmas ornaments are made. Any suggestions?
In Europe, the art of glassblowing has weathered the Middle Ages, world wars, Communism and the spread of cheap trinkets -- but still, it remains a vital craft in Germany and the Czech Republic.
The ornaments are made by either lampwork, which uses a torch to shape the glass, or glassblowing, which requires a furnace and a blowpipe the artist puffs like a clarinet.
The lighter, more delicate glass balls are formed by torch, and therefore don't weigh down the Christmas tree boughs.
In Germany, the hub of lampworking is Lauscha, near the Thuringian Forest in eastern Germany.
The city is home to the Glass Museum; workshops where artisans sit at their benches creating ornaments, marbles, doll eyes, buttons, etc.; and shops selling their wares. The German National Tourist Office (www.germany-tourism.de) has plotted out the Glass Route, a 155-mile trail from Neustadt on the Waldnaab River to Passau on the Danube.
In the Czech Republic, Novy Bor is considered the center of the country's glass industry. The city, about 55 miles north of Prague, has the Museum of Glass plus the factory and outlet stores of Crystelex (more for glasses and vases than ornaments).
Details: Czech Tourism. www.czechtourism.com.
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