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Rückl

The Rückl family glassworks has been synonymous with first-class cut crystal since 1846. However, the tradition of glass melting has been passed down from generation to generation in the family for three hundred years.


The Rückl family came to Bohemia at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. The first stable glassworks that bore the family name was established in Cyranov Wostrov in 1846 thanks to the contribution of Jan Rückl. Together with this date, the foundations of the future glass empire were laid. After establishing smaller family glassworks in Cyranov Wostrov, Včelnička and Skalica near Česká Lípa, in 1903 Antonín Rückl decided to build a glassworks in Nižbor on a green field.


The great test for the family company was the period of the world wars. The glassworks managed to survive the hard times mainly thanks to the dexterity and diplomacy of Antonín Rückl, who managed to keep production running at a time when most of the men left for the front.


The real golden era occurred in the period between the two world conflicts when in 1923 the family glassworks became a joint-stock company and the focus was on expansion and innovation. At this time, all the Rückl companies boasted thousands of employees, warehouses in the capital and representation all over the world from Belgium and England to India or Damascus.


The new era of the family empire began on October 28, 1945, when President Beneš's state nationalization decree number 100 entered into force, and after years of prosperity, dark clouds descended over family businesses. In Nižbor, all polished or otherwise refined production was labelled as the last remnant of the bourgeoisie and abolished. The production focused on cuvettes – angular vessels similar to aquariums intended for the healthcare sector.


After a long time in separation, the year 1989 finally came and with it many expectations, but the Rückl family was quickly torn from the revolutionary euphoria by a rejected restitution request. And so the only option to return the glass factory to the owners' hands was to buy it.


In 1992, the great-grandson of the first owner, Jiří Rückl, who was drawn to glassmaking not only by his genes, but also by his education in glass technologies, acquired the managed Nijbor glassworks from the state for thirty-five million crowns, and the first renovations could begin. The year 2017 brings fundamental changes to the glassworks. With the entry of investor and patron of Czech brands, Martin Wichterle, the centuries-old craft has the opportunity to shine also in the field of contemporary design. The new collection, led by artistic director Rony Plesl, pays tribute to the tradition of Czech glassmaking and icons of Czech history.