Poland is one of the world’s main exporters of Christmas decorations, with numerous prestigious customers such as the British Harrods, the American Bloomingdales or the French Le Bon Marché.

Data from the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) reveals that in 2019, the value of Polish exports of Christmas goods reached over 80 million euros, which is two and a half times more than in 2015.

“This puts Poland in third place in the world. Only China exported more (the world leader in sales with a market share of over 80 per cent) and Germany,” according to PIE.

The report also shows that in 2019, Polish Christmas baubles were delivered to over seventy countries from every continent across the world, with almost half of them going to Germany, and 18 per cent to the United States.

The above-mentioned decorations are mostly hand-blown from glass and then hand-painted. They are produced by several traditional manufacturers and sold in the world’s most exclusive department stores.

Even though China is the world’s market leader in the number of baubles produced today, these are produced on a mass scale and usually from plastic. Poland, however, has established itself a good reputation when it comes to the quality and craft of its glass baubles. Polish presence in the world’s production of glass ornaments has been going on for decades.

The president of the manufacturer of Christmas decorations GabiGlass located in Gniezno Jakub Grubiński told The First News that Poles are well known in Great Britain as producers of baubles. 

“Polish Christmas tree decorations are very sought after over there. When they receive the news that the products are from Poland, the interest is immediately enormous,” he was quoted as saying. 

The only shop selling handmade glass baubles is Bombkarnia. The founder, Małgorzata Esse creates the author’s collection to promote a rich folk culture of Poland embroideries on a new medium– glass bauble. Bombkarnia has existed since 2006.

As a matter of fact, Poles are Christmas lovers. Traditions related to this Christian holiday (including the decoration of the Christmas tree) are actively perpetrated from one generation to the other. This can be seen and felt everywhere across the country. 

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen

Photo: Caroline Byczynski