Lower Silesia was once a “crystal hub”. As many as four glassworks operated successfully here, producing items known—and valued—around the world. To this day, only Huta Julia in Piechowice has survived, where production still takes place. It also houses an educational and historical centre, whose creation was financed by the European Union.
Krystalium, as it is called, was established in the building of the former kuglernia (a kuglernia is a workshop at a glassworks dedicated to decorating products), where vocational training workshops operated until recently. Here, travelling through the ages, visitors can learn about the history of crystal, the art of decoration, design, as well as traditions connected with the search for and processing of quartz. Centuries ago, the Walloons from the area of present-day Belgium, while searching the Karkonosze Mountains for gold and precious stones, discovered this valuable mineral, which made glass production possible. In doing so, they helped make our region famous throughout Europe.
An extraordinary exhibition
Krystalium is entirely devoted to crystal glass: its history, traditions and significance in Karkonosze culture. The facility is divided into two zones. Knowledge reigns on the ground floor, presented in a highly visual yet aesthetically pleasing manner. The walls feature various installations: animated, illuminated and static. Visitors are delighted by a gallery of glass fish that decorated the homes of almost every Polish family in the last century. The exhibition also presents the most important moments in the history of the glassworks, its collections, patterns and cuts. Important events and people associated with local glassmaking traditions have also been remembered. The second zone of Krystalium is located on the building’s first floor. Here, the space is divided into numerous interactive stations, each showing a different aspect, feature or property of glass.
“Krystalium is not a glass museum, but an interactive centre dedicated to glass and glassmaking in the region,” says Bartosz Browarny of the Sudeten Traditions Foundation, which secured European Union funding. “Here, visitors can learn about the properties of crystal products: create the rainbow effect characteristic of crystal and see whether they have the strength of a glassworker. Everything here is different and unusual, even the scales. Weighing as much as 40 decanters rather than 80 kilograms is something that will certainly stay in one’s memory.”
History and the present
Huta Julia was founded in 1866 by Friedrich Wilhelm Heckert, the godson of the emperor at the time. In 1923, the plant merged with the other well-known Karkonosze glassworks, Josephine, in nearby Szklarska Poręba. The glassworks produced crystal works of art that gained fame around the world. After the Second World War, the plants continued production, but by the end of the 20th century both glass factories had closed. Only the glassworks in Piechowice survived to the present day—in 2006, it was bought by a Polish family, which resumed glass production.
Many tourists visiting the area around Szklarska Poręba plan a visit to the famous Huta Julia. There are very few such industrial gems left.
Danuta Michalik from Jelenia Góra organised a trip for third-grade pupils.
“Although not all the children were equally interested in the glass production process at the glassworks itself, everyone became very animated in Krystalium, playing with light, solving puzzles and measuring their body weight in terms of the number of crystal glasses rather than kilograms. I would gladly return here with my immediate family and will certainly recommend this place to friends from outside our region.”
The creation of Krystalium cost almost PLN 3 million, of which PLN 1.7 million came from European funds.
Informational material from the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
