The Rückl Crystal Glassworks
The Rückl glassworks has been synonymous with first-class cut crystal since 1846. However, the tradition of glass melting has been handed down in the Rückl family from generation to generation for three hundred years.
The glassworks in Nižbor, in the picturesque village of Křivoklát in the valley of the Berounka River, was founded on a green meadow in 1903 by the Rückl glassmaking family, and since then it has taken traditional Czech glassmaking to a new level.
The glassmaking family came to the Czech lands at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. They learned their art from the Venetians and their journey led from Italy through Switzerland and today’s Bavaria to the Bohemian forests, where Sebastian Rückl worked as a glassmaker in the Zlatá studna glassworks as early as 1704. From there they later moved to northern and eastern Bohemia and the Highlands. Eventually, the direct ancestors of the founder of the Nižbor glassworks, Antonín Rückl, settled in the Chrudim region, where in 1846 Jan Rückl founded a glasswork factory in Cyranův Wostrov, today’s Ostrov.
The Rückl glass combines the sublime beauty of hand-blown and cut crystal with unique design. For those interested in the glassmaking process, there is the opportunity to take a tour of the glassworks. During guided tours of the glassworks, which usually last around 45 minutes, visitors have the opportunity to see the different stages and traditional glassmaking techniques. Each individual step of crystal production is explained and presented, as well as the art of hand-blowing, the quality control process and the cutter’s craftsmanship. At the end of each tour, visitors can try out the cutter’s work and, of course, take the polished product home as a souvenir for a fee.
In the hands of local glassmakers and cutters, besides traditional products, design collections designed by Czech artist Ronny Plesl and crystal statuettes of Czech Lions (a prestigious Czech film award) were born. Glass from the Nižbor glassmakers has reached Pope John Paul II, Queen Elizabeth II of England and former US-President Bill Clinton.
