Glass Heritage Centre in Krosno

‘You blow air into this pipe and you get a glass vase’. This sentence sounds strange but if you visit the Glass Heritage Centre in Krosno you will find out it describes in simple terms the process of glassmaking. In fact, you can also see in what way a glassmaker performs this activity.

A blowpipe is a long tube with a heat-resistant steel end on one side and a mouthpiece on the other. It is used by glassmakers to produce glass items. Using the heat-resistant end of the tube they collect a required amount of glass mass, which has been melted in the furnace. Then they blow air into the pipe and as a result the flexible mass receives the desired shape. Then they process the item as required. The glassmakers work in pairs. The second glassmaker shapes cylinders of various sizes from the glass mass to form the handles and decorative elements of the item.

The glass mass initially has no colour. To obtain a desired colour, the glassmakers coat the item with matching powders and granules. Only after this stage is the item left to cool down. Finally, it is mechanically processed and decorated.

At the Glass Heritage Centre, you can witness the whole process of glassware production. Demonstrations are held in a specially adapted hall with seating for viewers as well as an area with a glass melting furnace and the related equipment. Indeed, it is fascinating to watch a lump of molten glass turn into a bubble and then take shape of a bowl, vase, dish or another item we all use on a daily basis without knowing how they have been made.

In other rooms you can learn about equally exciting secrets of this trade. For instance in one of the workshops, glass figurines are created. In the skilful hands of the masters of this art, colourful glass sticks and cylinders heated on small table-top burners are transformed into fish, seahorses, reindeer and fairytale animals. Each object is made by hand, which is why each one is slightly different, even though it appears to have been created in the same way, e.g. the mane of a running horse flows in a different way than in the other horses, or a reindeer looks in a different direction than the ones the glass artist conjured up a moment before.

Presentations of the processes of glass blowing, modelling, polishing, engraving or painting are regularly held at the Glass Heritage Centre. In addition to these, occasional events, such as painting exhibitions, multimedia shows or music concerts, are also organised there; you can get up-to-date information about these on the website of the Centre: www.miastoszkla.pl.

A visit to the Glass Heritage Centre is even more fascinating owing to the craftsmen taking part in the presentations. While demonstrating their skills, these true masters of their profession will answer every question, explain every technological aspect and talk at length about why Krosno is called ‘the Glass City’.

It all started shortly after the First World War. Having regained independence after 123 years of partitions, Poland was rebuilding its economy. A joint-stock company from Kraków, Polish Glassworks, was looking for a location for an investment project. They finally decided to buy part of the property from Cecylia Kaczkowska, née Potocka, and in 1924 they built the first glassworks in Krosno. This is when the history of the Glass City began.

Glass products made in Krosno, manufactured both during the interwar period and then after WWII, by the state enterprise established in 1958, are known all over Poland and abroad. Many items have found their way to the court of Queen Elizabeth II, the offices of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, King Juan Carlos of Spain or the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. A souvenir shop at the Glass Heritage Centre will bring glass items made in Krosno into the home of every visitor to this unique place.