The Kingdom of Crystal (Swedish: ''Glasriket'', ''The glass realm'') is a geographical area today containing a total of 14

glassworks Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container p ...

in the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Emmaboda,

Nybro Nybro (, outdatedly ) is a city status in Sweden, city and the seat of Nybro Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 13,583 inhabitants in 2020. Overview Nybro was founded as a rest area for travellers on the road between Växjö in the west and ...

, Uppvidinge, and Lessebo in southern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. (in Swedish) The two municipalities Emmaboda and Nybro belong to

Kalmar County Kalmar County () is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Kronoberg County, Kronoberg, Jönköping County, Jönköping, Blekinge County, Blekinge and Östergötland County, Östergötland. To the ...

and Lessebo and Uppvidinge belong to

Kronoberg County Kronoberg County (; ) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. Kronoberg is one of three counties in the province of Småland. It borders the counties of Skåne, Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, and Blekinge. Its capital is the city of V ...

. The area is part of the province

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name ''Småland'' literally means "small la ...

, and

is considered the capital of the Kingdom of Crystal area. The Kingdom of Crystal is known for its handblown glass with a continuous story since 1742. The glassworks have become part of the

culture of Sweden The Culture of Sweden is characterised by its art, music, dance, literature, traditions, religious practices and more. It is similar to but distinct from the cultures of neighboring countries. Sweden's modern history has a well-established tradi ...

; examples can be found in many Swedish homes, recognisable by a small sticker at the bottom with the name

Orrefors Orrefors () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in southern Sweden and part of Nybro Municipality, Kalmar County, with 719 inhabitants in 2010. The township belongs to Hälleberga parish and is primarily famous for its Orrefors glassworks ...

Kosta Boda Kosta Boda (), formerly known as Kosta Glasbruk (), is a Sweden, Swedish glassmaking company that is a well known manufacturer of art glass and tableware. It is located in Kosta, Sweden, which was named for the company. The surrounding region ha ...

, etc. The height of glass production was the end of the 19th century during which 77 glass factories were established with more than half of them situated in

. When touring the forested

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in Sweden, it is normal to visit at least one of the glassworks. The larger ones have adjacent museums and are open for visitors to see the glass blowing hall, normally looking down from a platform. Food is available as well as shopping for various glass products such as glasses, bowls, vases and unique glass ornaments. The Kingdom of Crystal is a popular and a well known tourist destination. Th
Regional Council of Kalmar County
conducts a study every four years to survey the Swedish public regarding their knowledge and awareness about Kalmar County, its places to visit and tourist attractions. The survey was conducted by Kantar Sifo and included 1500 respondents aged 20–79 years old. The survey results found that the Kingdom of Crystal area was the most visited tourist attraction in the Kalmar County attracting a wide range of people. One in five aged 40–79 years old had visited the area in the last five years. The visitors had no significant difference in terms of geographical belonging, income or gender. The only difference that could be noted was that the group visiting the area tended to be of older age rather than young. Among the respondents aged 40–65+ years old only 3% claimed they never heard of the Kingdom of Crystal. The more notable are Orrefors Glasbruk, with the adjacent National School of Glass and

. Each one of the glassworks have distinctive design traditions, character and atmosphere.

Companies

Glassworks

*Hitorp Glasbruk * Målerås *

Sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

Sandvik Sandvik AB is a Swedish multinational corporation, multinational engineering company specializing in products and services for mining, rock excavation, drilling rig, rock drilling, rock processing (crusher, crushing and mechanical screening, scre ...

* Bergdala * Rosdala * Johansfors * Lindshammar * Strömbergshyttan * Pukeberg (founded 1871)
/ref> * Åfors Glasbruk, Åfors * Transjö hytta

Smaller glasswork-related companies

In the Kingdom of Crystal, there are a large number of small businesses in the glass industry, which are often spin-offs from some of the larger companies. Activities of these businesses include: *

Studio glass Studio glass is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional work of art, artworks in the fine arts. The glass objects created are typically intended to make a sculptural or decorative statement, rathe ...

Glass engraving Engraved glass is a type of decorated glass that involves shallowly engraving the surface of a glass object, either by holding it against a rotating wheel, or manipulating a "diamond point" in the style of an engraving burin. It is a subgroup of ...

*Glass repair *

Glass painting Painted glass refers to two different techniques of decorating glass, both more precisely known by other terms. Firstly, and more correctly, it means enamelled glass, normally relatively small vessels which have been painted with preparations of vi ...

Design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

Training

* Riksglasskolan in Orrefors *Glasskolan in Kosta (Secondary school, the Nordic line, Commissioned, Vocational Education)

References

External links

Official website
in Swedish, English and German Glassmaking companies of Sweden Småland Museums in Kalmar County Glass museums and galleries Art museums and galleries in Sweden Museums in Kronoberg County Emmaboda Municipality Nybro Municipality Uppvidinge Municipality Lessebo Municipality {{Sweden-museum-stub