Bižuterie a sklo - Informační centrum Jablonec n. N.

Jablonec nad Nisou
Jablonec nad Nisou lies in the foothills of the Jizera Mountains. It has an area of 31.38 km 2 , an altitude
above sea level of 380–758 m and it is home to more than 45,000 inhabitants. The first mention of the
settlement dates from 1356. Czech and German colonists came to the area at that time. A number of villages
in this area were burnt down during the Crusade of the fifteenth century and Jablonec was among them.
The area was then resettled predominantly by German colonists in the mid-16th century. In 1548, a glassworks
was established in M‰eno by the Wander and Schürer families, who, along with the Preusslers, were
the best known glass entrepreneurs in the Jizera Mountains during the 16th and 17th centuries.
In the 18th century, the glassworks began to move further into the mountains in search of the necessary
supplies of wood. This period also saw the establishment and rapid rise of the Riedel glass dynasty,
the glass kings of the Jizera Mountains. The beginnings of the mass production of costume jewellery in the
region are associated with their name. They were also later successfully involved in the production of light
fittings and technical glass or the textile business.
During the course of the 19th century, Jablonec became an internationally respected glass and costume
jewellery centre. After being raised to the status of a township in 1808, it was subsequently given the
status of a town in 1866. At that time, Jablonec was one of the ten largest towns in Bohemia and it played
host to tens of thousands of foreigners from all continents every year, mainly costume jewellery merchants.
The Vocational School for Drawing, Modelling and Metal Chasing School in Jablonec nad Nisou was established
in 1880 to support the costume jewellery industry. At that time, the Jablonec area became known as
the “Austrian California”, but prospectors came looking for glass diamonds instead of gold. This period also
saw the beginning of the activities of the successful innovator of cut glass stone production and internationally
renowned merchant, Daniel Swarovski, who came from the Jizera Mountains. The development
then accelerated and the town on the Nisa soon saw the construction of a gasworks (1872), a power station
(1891) and a tram line (1901).
The 20th century also began magnificently, when Jablonec businesspeople paid as much in taxes to the
Habsburg monarchy as the entire crown territory of Dalmatia. The First World War clipped the wings of production
and commerce, but this was followed by a remarkable boom in the new state when almost 700 companies
were involved in selling costume jewellery in Jablonec and its environs alone! However, the economic
crisis of the 1930s and the subsequent Second World War significantly reshuffled the cards. 1945 and
1948 marked the start of a new reality. Despite this, however, Jablonec succeeded in reclaiming its position
as a significant international supplier of costume jewellery. Production was handled by the Jablonec jewellery
state enterprise, exports were the province of Jablonex, a museum with nationwide activities was
established, international exhibitions were organised and the town began to breathe again. Despite the fact
that glass and costume jewellery were no longer its sole industry, they remained an unforgettable part of
its identity. And this also remained the case after 1989, when the state enterprise monopolies were replaced
with numerous small and large entrepreneurs who are continuing to write new chapters in the story of
this proud town of glass and costume jewellery with an apple tree in its coat of arms.
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