City History

The history of Szklarska Poręba is closely related to the development of glass industry, the search for precious stones and ores, and, since the mid-19th century, with tourism.
At the end of the 13th century, the area of today's Szklarska Poręba was bought by the Order of Saint John from Cieplice in order to search for gold and precious stones. In the mid-14th century, the first glassworks was established. The later owner of the land and the initiator of the establishment of subsequent steelworks was the Schaffgotsch family, whose estate covered the area of the mountains and foothills. At that time, the Karkonosze Mountains were penetrated by treasure hunters who came here from Western Europe, called Walloons. Traces of their presence remaining to this day include adits, workings, shafts and secret signs carved on the rocks, which also testify to the mineral wealth of these areas.

The development of glass industry was associated with intensive felling of forests. Following the wood needed to melt glass, the glassworks "wandered" along the stream valleys deep into the mountains, and with them the settlements of metallurgists, lumberjacks and smelters. The name Szklarska Poręba is associated with the "wandering glassworks", because shepherd's settlements were established in the Szklarska Poręba areas, which gave rise to today's city. The name was established by the Silesian Institute in 1946 and announced in the Official Journal of the Recovered Territories No. 5. Subsequent glassworks were established in the years - 1575. on the Czech Struga, in 1617 in Biała Dolina, in 1754 in the settlement of Orle and in 1842 in the Kamienna River valley, the steelworks that still exists today, originally "Józefina", after 1945 "Julia". For several hundred years, glassmaking was the leading branch of the local economy. The history of Szklarska Poręba was greatly influenced by the arrival in 1578 of a group of Czech Protestants - religious emigrants, who were allowed to settle on the Silesian side of the mountains by Count Schaffgotsch, known for his religious tolerance, and thus the settlement of Marysin was established at the foot of Szrenica. Among the group of Czech emigrants, laboratory technicians, experts in natural medicine, producing famous herbal medicines, were particularly remembered in the history of the region. In the 17th and 18th centuries, further settlements were built, and at the beginning of the 19th century, Szklarska Poręba became one of the largest villages in the Sudetes. It consisted of 26 settlements and hamlets with 336 houses, two churches (Catholic and Evangelical), four schools, two glassworks and sixteen glass grinding plants, three mills and a sawmill. The main source of income for the local population was forest work (lumberjacks and woodcutters), glass melting (metallurs), farming and shepherding. It was the shepherds' huts in the high mountain pastures that gave rise to today's mountain shelters.

From the mid-19th century, tourism began to develop intensively. The desire to learn and personally experience the charms of mountain hiking and, above all, the beauty of the area have made Szklarska Poręba a very famous climatic and tourist station in Lower Silesia. The breakthrough was the construction of the road from Piechowice through the Szklarska Pass to Harrachov in 1847. and the railway line from Jelenia Góra to Tanvald in 1902. From that moment, Szklarska Poręba, developing its tourist function, consolidated its position as a famous center of tourism and winter sports. Another important event for the development of tourism was the construction of the "Szrenica" Cable Railway (chairlift) in 1962.

At the end of the 19th century, the news about the charm of the town and the beauty of the surrounding area caused an influx of artists to Szklarska Poręba - writers, poets, painters and sculptors. This is how a kind of artistic colony was created, whose traditions are continued by contemporary artists.

After 1945, most of the accommodation facilities in Szklarska Poręba became the property of the Employee Holiday Fund and Szklarska Poręba became one of the most famous holiday resorts in Poland.

Szklarska Poręba received city rights in 1959.