Czech Republic Craftsmanship

Red soils of Nová Paka, Czech Republic.

Visit a Czech home and you will be struck by the small details: the carefully carved roof tiles, the neatness of the garden fence, handmade furnishings and decorations. Everything from the door you walk through to the chair or couch you sit on and the small decorations will have been carefully considered and crafted. The same is true across the country as a whole: of the bridges you walk over, the glasses you drink from, and the food you drink. Craftmanship abounds.

Czech craftsmanship spans the biggest monuments and the smallest parts of everyday life: from the towering architecture that has helped make Prague one of Europe’s most important tourist destinations, to the tiny details of how people design and decorate their homes. People take a deep pride and satisfaction in the process of putting things together: how a room is furnished or a sausage seasoned.

It’s obvious that there is craftsmanship in something so grand as a cathedral, and Prague, the “city of a hundred spires,” has no shortage of magnificent architecture. Yet it is the small details that show you how deeply the culture of craft is embedded. In the capital, you might easily dismiss the ubiquitous sausage stands as ten-a-penny, no different from hot dog vendors in New York or kestane (chestnut) sellers in Istanbul.

But Czech butchers elevate the sausage from a humble staple into an art form. To ask generically for a sausage in Prague is like going into a Florentine gelateria and asking for some ice cream, or a Viennese Kaffeehaus and ordering an americano. The craft of Czech sausage making means you have a huge amount of choice, with subtle variations from the choice of meat to how long it has been aged, and how it is flavored. You could opt for the paprika and marjoram-spiced klobasa; an utopenci (literally, “drowning man”) bratwurst, pickled and served cold; the sometimes foot-long parek, which puts the American hot dog in the shade; or the ring-shaped, offal-based jaternice.

If variety really is the spice of life, then Czech culture comes well seasoned. The mass-produced and generic is shunned in favor of the craft, original and distinctive. Less IKEA and more your local DIY store. Even Prague’s lampposts, including one in the Cubist style, said to be the only one of its kind in the world, are eye-catching and distinctive.

There are deep roots to Czech craftsmanship, with traditional Bohemian industries such as glass production that are still going strong today, and which are a global byword for handmade quality. The culture is also said by some to have been strengthened by the shortages experienced during the communist years: often there was no alternative but to make what you needed yourself, with whatever materials were available. The shortages may have become a thing of the past, but the desire to make do and mend hasn’t gone away.

If there is a deep tradition to the craft culture in the Czech Republic, it has become no less strong for the passage of time. When you visit, it is not uncommon to be woken up early in the morning by the sound of drilling, as people work on their homes—to make improvements as well as repairs. There is an element of frugality here, in not wanting to waste money or materials (which may also have its roots in the shortages that were faced under communism), but the fundamental driver is about the pride and satisfaction that comes in creating something with your hands. You may hear the phrase zlaté ručičky (golden hands), reflecting the national pride in their ability as craftsmen and engineers.

Above all, what becomes clear when spending time in the Czech Republic is the value of caring about the small details of how things look and sweating the process of how they are put together. This is a value that is not just seen in objects and buildings, but that also lives in people; it is celebrating small but important differences, and respecting the craft of the production as much as you judge the quality of the product.

There is a deep satisfaction to be had in making something yourself—whether it is cooking a meal, creating something with your hands or doing some painting. There is something satisfying and personal about having achieved something like this for yourself, especially in a world where many of us have become distant from these skills and traditions. To see Czech craftsmanship up close is to have your eyes opened to the beauty that can exist in even small, everyday things; a new perspective that shows the importance of taking time to do things properly.