History, Collection and Awards

A collection of more than 5,000 exhibits

The Harrachov Glass Museum, which is part of the glassworks complex, houses a technologically and historically comprehensive collection that traces more than three centuries of glassmaking history in Nový Svět. The collection itself comprises more than 5,000 exhibits, making it the largest collection of Czech glass from a single glassworks in the Czech Republic.

The white building on the left is the current museum building, known as the Panský dům. This structure is likely the oldest brick building in the western Krkonoše Mountains, and its construction is also associated with the year 1712.

The Story Behind the Collection

According to many, the story of the Harrachov glass collection is just as interesting as its contents are fascinating. The collection itself has, in fact, “experienced” its own share of suspense—and one might even say adventure. The exhibits on display in the museum today served as a corporate showroom for the then-owners, the Counts of Harrach, before World War II. The showroom contained the very best pieces ever produced by the glassworks—the pride and joy of its owners. Shortly before the first German troops entered Harrachov on October 8, 1938, the then-owner, Jan Nepomuk Antonín, Count Harrach, decided to have the most valuable exhibits walled up in a secret room behind the showroom. The spot where the original entrance to the room had been was plastered over, and the historical collection was concealed from the Nazis.

The Secret of the Thirteenth Chamber 

The room was so perfectly concealed that no one was able to discover it during the war or for a long time afterward. It was not until workers renovated the showroom in the 1970s that they discovered the contents of the showroom were hidden in the secret room. Only then was it revealed just how much wealth had been concealed there. Unfortunately, many rare pieces had been used as gifts for various visitors to the state-owned enterprise at the time. The collection thus remained where it had been stored until privatization. In June 1993, the glassworks was purchased by its current owner, JUDr. František Novosad. He had the entire rediscovered “glass treasure” removed from the dilapidated room, carefully cataloged, and transferred to the Panský dům building, where he established a museum. Since then, the room where the glass was found has been known only as the “thirteenth chamber.”