Crafted Christmas tree decorations made from blown glass beads are produced by blowing a heated glass tube into a brass mould, shaped into a string of beads called klaustschata. They are hand-silvered, colored, and decorated.
The handmade beads from Czechia are then cut into shorter pieces for threading onto wires and are then decorated with silver, colored, and hand-painted beads.
One of the most important cultural elements of the Giant and Jizera Mountain regions in North Bohemia is glass bead making, which has been done since the late eighteenth century. The craft is specialized and technically demanding, handed down for generations by families.
During the socialist era, only one small production workshop survived the era when the socialist economy began to transform. After communism fell in 1989, the Kulhavy family purchased the Ponikla factory, which presently employs 50 people and preserved the tradition.
Over time, the craft became more prevalent and families made their living through it. About 400 glass bead makers lived in the village at the beginning of the 20th century. In the 19th century, glass beads were very widely used in bijouterie and in the decorating of garments.
By 1912, they were also used for making Christmas tree decorations. By the 1930s, the production exploded and the decorations were exported to countries all over the world. Family workshops like the Kulhavy family have been able to preserve this knowledge and continue to work with domestic bead makers to preserve the tradition.
Museums also help to preserve this knowledge by organizing workshops. There is an old folk tale about Krakono, who was the legendary ruler of the mountains, and who made Christmas ornaments such as these.
A family company in Poniklá, Czech Republic, called Rautis, is now the only place in the world where the traditional craft of glass bead blowing has been preserved for more than 100 years. It was started in 1902 by Stanislav Horna, who established the first manufactory in Poniklá.
Rautis maintains the traditional technology and the manufacturing process that was passed down from generation to generation for more than 100 years. Currently, it has approximately 20,000 designs, some dating as far back as the turn of the century.