Crystalex is the largest Czech producer and the world's leading manufacturer of drinking

glass Glass is a non-Crystallinity, crystalline, often transparency and translucency, transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most ...

es. The company own prestigious trademark Bohemia Crystal. The main production plant is in

Nový Bor Nový Bor (; until 1948 Hajda, german: Haida) is a town in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The town is known for its glass industry. The historic town centre is well preserved an ...

, the second is in

Karolinka Karolinka(until 1951 Karolinina Huť; german: Charlottenhütte) is a town in Vsetín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,400 inhabitants. Etymology The name is a Czech diminutive form of woman name Caroline. It wa ...

. Original Karolinka plant was built in the 19th century, when the greatest development of glass production took place.

History

In 1948, the national enterprise ''Borocrystal'' was established, uniting 55 original small establishments and glassworks. In 1953, by joining ''Umělecká sklo'' was established even larger national company ''Borské sklo''. In 1967, the construction of a new production facility in

was completed, the construction was carried out by an association of

Yugoslav Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to: * Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name: ** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...

companies. In 1974, the company changed its name to Crystalex. At that time, Crystalex united most of the Czech glassworks producing utility glass. After

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

, a number of state-owned enterprises became independent and were privatized. The company in Nový Bor was transformed into a

joint-stock company A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders a ...

. In 2008, Crystalex had four production plants: Nový Bor, Karolinka,

Hostomice nad Bílinou Hostomice (german: Hostomitz) is a market town in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,300 inhabitants. Hostomice lies approximately south of Teplice, south-west of Ústí nad Labem, and nort ...

and

Vrbno pod Pradědem Vrbno pod Pradědem (; german: Würbenthal) is a town in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,800 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages and hamlets of Bílý Potok, Mnichov, Vidly and Žele ...

and had a turnover of about

CZK The koruna, or crown, (sign: Kč; code: CZK, cs, koruna česká) has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's 9 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro curr ...

1.5 billion. Then, however, during the

financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...

it went bankrupt. In August 2009, the CBC Invest glass group, backed by Russian and Slovak capital, represented by the Czech businessman Jiří Hudera, bought production plants in Nový Bor and Karolinka for CZK 362.7 million and transformed it into a

private limited company A private limited company is any type of business entity in Privately held company, "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a Public company, publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Examples ...

. Since then, the new owners have invested another roughly 200 million crowns not only in the renewal of production and technology, but also in the modernization of the complex. Audition insolvency proceedings at the Crystalex ended after ten years. The company regularly reported a profit and sales were around one billion CZK.

Collection and exhibition

A valuable, unique collection of 1,500 pieces of glass of the company has been exhibited since 2009 in the Lemberk Castle. Since 2011, it is exhibited at the newly created ''Center of Glass Art'' in the town of Sázava in the

Benešov District Benešov District ( cs, okres Benešov) is a district (''okres'') within Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Benešov. Complete list of municipalities Benešov – Bernartice – Bílkovice – Blažejovice ...

. It is also sometimes borrowed to Nový Bor.

References

External links

crystalex.cz/en
{{Authority control Glassmaking companies of the Czech Republic Companies of Czechoslovakia Design companies established in 1948 Manufacturing companies established in 1948 Czech brands

History

Collection and exhibition

See also

References

External links