Jablonec Glassworks

After the end of World War II, the nationalization of strategic industrial enterprises began in Czechoslovakia, including the glass industry. Based on the Beneš decrees, glassworks owned by German, Hungarian, or collaborationist owners were nationalized. This process led to the unification of dispersed production capacities into national enterprises.

In 1951, the national enterprise Jablonec Glassworks was established in Dolní Polubný, which was renamed to n. p. Jablonec Glassworks Desná in 1972. Over time, the following significant glassworks and glass production facilities were incorporated into this national enterprise:

• Dolní Polubný - a historically significant glassmaking area where the company of Josef Riedel operated since the 19th century. This was where the company's headquarters were established.
• Desná
• Dolní Maxov
• Příchovice - the company of Josef Schmidt
• Svor near Česká Lípa - a glassworks founded by Josef Riedel Jr. at the beginning of the 20th century, which was later moved to Dolní Polubný.
• Jablonec nad Nisou - the most important glassworks of Heinrich Hoffmann.
• Janov nad Nisou (Vitrum Glassworks) - built in 1912 by Johann Schorm. It was dedicated to producing "bangles - glass bracelets," which were exported to India. The glassworks were nationalized in 1945 and incorporated into Jablonec Glassworks in 1951. A significant producer of pressed and furnace glass.

Before nationalization, these glassworks were in the hands of private entrepreneurs, mostly of German origin. After the expulsion of the German population after the war, the glass production facilities were handed over to state administration and unified into national enterprises.

From 1957 to 1960, he worked as an in-house designer at Jablonec Glassworks. His designs were aesthetically modern, functional, and internationally recognized – for example, the ashtray awarded at EXPO 1958 in Brussels. Although his work was artistically praised, it was less successful commercially. After leaving the company, he worked as a teacher at the AAAD in Prague.

After Plátek's departure in 1960, Václav Hanuš took over his position and became a key figure at n. p. Jablonec Glassworks until 1985. Hanuš was a graduate of the jewelry school in Turnov and the AAAD in Prague. Before that, he worked at n. p. Glassworks Inwald Teplice and PZO Skloexport.

Hanuš created hundreds of designs, from small spice jars to large vases, which combined traditional elements with modern design. His respect for pre-war forms, which he reintroduced into production with small adjustments, was also extremely important. This approach led to the creation of a specific type of "new crystal," carrying the functionalist message of the 1930s. His work significantly influenced the aesthetics of glassmaking in the 1960s to the 1980s.

After Václav Hanuš's departure in 1985, there was a gradual decline in design activity at Jablonec Glassworks. His successor, Josef Kruml, who started in 1983, prepared several designs, but most of them never went into production.

In 1988, there was a transition from national enterprises to state-owned companies. These operated until the early 1990s when the process of transformation and privatization began. Some glass enterprises in the Jablonec region returned to the original owners or their descendants, while others remained state-owned and were later privatized. Many of them, however, gradually disappeared or were sold into private ownership. In the vicinity of Jablonec nad Nisou, a diverse network of smaller private glassworks gradually emerged, often continuing the long local tradition but having to adapt to the new market conditions.