It is never too early to start thinking about the Christmas holidays. Excellent food, family gatherings, carefully wrapped presents, and Christmas spirit are all the things that can't be complete without Christmas ornaments. When it comes to Zagreb, it is famous for many things, and one of them is, most definitely, old, traditional crafts. You might think now, "Ok, so what does Christmas got to do with old, traditional crafts?". Well, there is one thing that connects them so beautifully. Although I already wrote about old craftsmen in Zagreb, this one is somewhat different and unique. 

Photo Credit: Martina Šimunković/Koogle

Zagreb - The Place to Be During the Advent

As you probably already know, Zagreb has, in the last couple of years, become famous for its Advent. Zagreb has received three awards for the best Advent in Europe for three consecutive years. There are a lot of unique holiday dishes you can taste, and a lot of unique souvenirs and products you can buy. One of those products has, over the years, become somewhat of a symbol as a unique holiday souvenir. That product is named Koogle. A direct translation of the word "kugla" would be a ball, a sphere, or an orb. That word was somewhat distorted, and the name Koogle was created. Koogle is a unique ornament made out of blown glass. Over the last three years, they've gained a reputation as an original product enrichened with tradition, hand craftsmanship, and originality in its presentation. The product was first presented in its current form in 2014. Since then, the creative people behind the project started to get all sorts of praise for the product originality. And also, for the effort of continuing family trade of blowing glass and tradition, which enriches the offer of Zagreb in a special way. 

Photo Credit: Martina Šimunković/Koogle

How It All Started? 

Martina Šimunković, the business owner of Koogle - handmade glass ornaments, is the third generation of glassblowers. She continued the family trade, started by her late grandfather, Ignac Križanić, in the 1950s. The trade was later maintained by her father, Josip Križanić, who taught Martina this unusual and rare skill of glass blowing. She was learning the craft for a year before she could make her first Christmas decoration. By profession, Martina is an art historian and an ethnologist, which makes her an expert in national culture and tradition. After 13 years spent at the Ministry of Culture, she took over the family trade in 2018 and started to create a respectable and creative product. Her craft gained the status of traditional art that is awarded by the Croatian Crafts Chamber. And if you can't wait until Christmas to see her creations on an Advent stand, you can visit Martina in her shop, located at Ilica 49 (Passage).

Photo Credit: Martina Šimunković/Koogle

Google Koogle

If you search for the word "Koogle," you will get a ton of results, because the project has awoken a pretty big interest of media in Croatia. Koogle also cooperated with a couple of museums in Zagreb, such as Crafts and Arts Museum, Klovićevi Dvori Gallery, and Ethnographic Museum. All of those museums are offering Koogle at their souvenir shops. Besides, this unique craft is also accessible on social media as their Facebook and Instagram accounts are also drawing a lot of attention from all over the world. 

An Ornament to Wish For

As I already mentioned, it takes a year of dedicated, hard work to master the skill of glass blowing. The result? A unique Christmas ornament that will fit nicely with just about any Christmas tree. The signature appearance of her Christmas ornaments implies leaving the orb clear and see-through because she wants them to leave an impression of fragility, grace, and elegance. Glass is a natural material. In the same manner, Martina is using only natural materials to decorate. The number of ideas is countless. That's why you can find Koogle filled with materials such as feathers, rope, wood, dry herbs, moss, seashells, sand, wool, berries, and paper, but also some other little things such as beads, colored pencils, buttons or even photographs.

Photo Credit: Martina Šimunković/Koogle

Koogle is simply a unique Christmas ornament without any unnecessary details and an object representing simplicity, modesty, pureness, and minimalism. They are utterly recyclable because glass is not waste, but rather a precious resource. And it can be reused countless times. To get a single ornament, each ball has to pass through hand precisely nine times. It all starts with a clear glass pipe from which Koogle is made of to the final result of packing them in a box, making them ready for the store shelves. 

Video Credit: Zagreb Crafts/YouTube

All of this makes up for an unforgettable gift, and an exceptional ornament you can personalize and exhilarate your beloved ones. I know what will be on my Christmas tree this year. And it's going to be made out of glass. 

Header Image Credit: Martina Šimunković/Koogle

Author: Tibor Trupec