The Kingdom of Crystal (Swedish: ''Glasriket'', ''The glass realm'') is a geographical area today containing a total of 14

glassworks Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

in the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Emmaboda Emmaboda () is a locality and the seat of Emmaboda Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden. It had 4,824 inhabitants in 2010. History Until 1875, Emmaboda was called Gantesbo. Back then there were only two houses in Gantesbo, which both remain to thi ...

Nybro Nybro (, outdatedly ) is a city and the seat of Nybro Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 13,583 inhabitants in 2020. Overview Nybro was founded as a rest area for travellers on the road between Växjö in the west and Kalmar in the east. In ...

Uppvidinge Uppvidinge Municipality (''Uppvidinge kommun'') is a municipality in Kronoberg County, southern Sweden, with its seat in the town of Åseda. The present municipality, which took its name from a hundred, was formed by the local government reform o ...

, and

Lessebo Lessebo is a locality and the seat of Lessebo Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden with 2,737 inhabitants in 2010. The Lessebo community formed gradually around the paper and iron works that was founded in 1660. Today Vida Paper AB runs the pulp ...

in southern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. (in Swedish) The two municipalities Emmaboda and Nybro belong to

Kalmar County Kalmar County () is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Kronoberg, Jönköping, Blekinge and Östergötland. To the east in the Baltic Sea is the island Gotland. The counties are mainly administrative units. Geo ...

and Lessebo and Uppvidinge belong to

Kronoberg County Kronoberg County (; sv, Kronobergs län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. Kronoberg is one of three counties in the province of Småland. It borders the counties of Skåne, Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, and Blekinge. Its capital is ...

. The area is part of the province

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

, and

is considered the capital of the Kingdom of Crystal area. The Kingdom of Crystal is known for its handblown glass with a continuous story since 1742. The glassworks have become part of the

culture of Sweden The Culture of Sweden has long been known for the accomplishments of a wide variety of artists. Prehistoric Sweden was the source of Norse culture, dominant in all of Scandinavia for hundreds of years, and the Temple at Uppsala in Sweden was ...

; examples can be found in many Swedish homes, recognisable by a small sticker at the bottom with the name

Orrefors Orrefors () is a locality situated in southern Sweden and part of Nybro Municipality, Kalmar County, with 719 inhabitants in 2010. The township belongs to Hälleberga parish and is primarily famous for its glassworks with the same name. Orrefors i ...

, Kosta, etc. The height of glass production was the end of the 19th century during which 77 glass factories were established with more than half of them situated in

. When touring the forested

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

in Sweden, it is normal to visit at least one of the glassworks. The larger ones have adjacent museums and are open for visitors to see the

glass blowing Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...

hall, normally looking down from a platform. Food is available as well as shopping for various glass products such as glasses, bowls, vases and unique glass ornaments. The Kingdom of Crystal is a popular and a well known tourist destination. Th
Regional Council of Kalmar County
conducts a study every four years to survey the Swedish public regarding their knowledge and awareness about Kalmar County, its places to visit and tourist attractions. The survey was conducted by Kantar Sifo and included 1500 respondents aged 20–79 years old. The survey results found that the Kingdom of Crystal area was the most visited tourist attraction in the Kalmar County attracting a wide range of people. One in five aged 40–79 years old had visited the area in the last five years. The visitors had no significant difference in terms of geographical belonging, income or gender. The only difference that could be noted was that the group visiting the area tended to be of older age rather than young. Among the respondents aged 40–65+ years old only 3% claimed they never heard of the Kingdom of Crystal. The more notable are Orrefors Glasbruk, with the adjacent

National School of Glass The National School of Glass in Orrefors (Swedish: ''Riksglasskolan'') is an educational center focused on glass arts, design and entrepreneurship in the field of glass. It was located next to the Orrefors glassworks in the Orrefors with the same ...

and

Kosta Glasbruk Kosta Glasbruk (), later known as Kosta Boda (), is a Swedish glassmaking company (''glasbruk'' in Swedish) founded by two foreign officers in Charles XII's army, Anders Koskull and Georg Bogislaus Staël von Holstein, in 1742.http://www.kostabo ...

, which is the basis for the

Kosta Boda Kosta may refer to: * Kosta, Estonia, a village in Vihula Parish, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia * Kosta, Greece a community in Greece * Kosta, Sweden, a village in Sweden * Coastal Andhra, region in India * Kosta Glasbruk, a glassworks in Sweden ...

company. Each one of the glassworks have distinctive design traditions, character and atmosphere.

Companies

Glassworks

*Hitorp Glasbruk *

Målerås Målerås () is a locality situated in Nybro Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of Swe ...

* Kosta *

Sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

Sandvik Sandvik AB is a Swedish multinational engineering company specializing in metal cutting, digital and additive manufacturing, mining and construction, stainless and special steel alloys, and industrial heating. The company was founded in Sweden ...

* Bergdala * Rosdala * Johansfors * Lindshammar * Strömbergshyttan * Pukeberg (founded 1871)
/ref> * Boda glasbruk, Boda * Åfors * Transjö hytta

Smaller Glasswork-related Companies

In the Kingdom of Crystal, there are a large number of small businesses in the glass industry, which are often spin-offs from some of the larger companies. Activities of these businesses include: *

Studio glass Studio glass is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks. The glass objects created are intended to make a sculptural or decorative statement. Though usage varies, the term is properly res ...

Glass engraving Engraved glass is a type of decorated glass that involves shallowly engraving the surface of a glass object, either by holding it against a rotating wheel, or manipulating a "diamond point" in the style of an engraving burin. It is a subgroup of ...

*Glass repair *

Glass painting Painted glass refers to two different techniques of decorating glass, both more precisely known by other terms. Firstly, and more correctly, it means enamelled glass, normally relatively small vessels which have been painted with preparations of ...

Design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

Training

* Riksglasskolan in Orrefors *Glasskolan in Kosta (Secondary school, the Nordic line, Commissioned, Vocational Education)

References

External links

Official website
in Swedish, English and German Glassmaking companies of Sweden Småland Museums in Kalmar County Glass museums and galleries Art museums and galleries in Sweden Museums in Kronoberg County {{Sweden-museum-stub