If you visited Lednice Equals in the first half of the 19th century, you would find only a small insignificant village, whose inhabitants were mainly engaged in agriculture.

This was changed by the arrival of the Schreiber family, who founded the most modern glassworks in Europe at that time. "At that time, people from different parts of Slovakia came here, but also from Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. For these experts, the Schreibers began to build workers' houses, a school, a doctor's office and a hotel was established here, which was used for cultural and social events, "said Eva Kucejová from the Municipal Office in Lednice-Rovno.

The glass craft has connected entire generations of residents. It was not unusual for my grandfather, father and son to work in the glassworks. "The masters were constantly improving and the result of their art and kumšt was beautiful glass, which withstood even tough competition. Today, the trend is a little different, which we are a little sorry about, "said Kucejová. Due to the low interest of students, the Secondary Vocational School of Glassmaking moved from the village, part of the manual production was replaced by machines and the glassmaking craft is no longer as lucrative as it used to be. The number of families inherited from generation to generation could currently be counted on the fingers of five hands in Lednice Rovny.

However, the local glassworks successfully continues the more than 125-year tradition. Today, it is one of the leading and at the same time the largest producers of drinking glasses. It exports up to 96 percent of its production to more than 80 countries around the world, with an annual production of more than 60 million pieces of glass. In its report, it also has a unique Slovak glass museum, which is located in the area of the former seat of the Schreiber family.

photo: Stanislav Hladký