In Budějovice
Koh-i-noor Hardtmuth
On foot 16 min · By car 6 min
Pencils have been made in Budějovice since 1848 and the company shop is normally open, so you can take home something genuinely local. The famous yellow Koh-i-noor was created here too, named after the diamond in the English coronation regalia.
The factory stands by Vodárenská věž, and every day half a million pencils leave it for more than ninety countries. With the yellow pencil the hardness grading that you find today on every pencil in the world was created here too — and what it means is still debated. The public cannot enter the factory; the company shop is in Široká street in the centre.
Practical details
- On foot 16 min · By car 6 min
- Opening hours: do továrny se veřejnost nedostane, prohlídky se nekonají. Podniková prodejna (Široká 421/1) Po–Pá 8:30–17:00 · So 9:00–17:00 · Ne zavřeno
On site
You cannot enter production — fair to say upfront. What you can see:
The factory site stands in F. A. Gerstnera street across from the Vodárenská věž (story) — industrial architecture of the 19th century, buildings from 1847–1848 and later additions. On postcards after 1903 the site is visible from the tower — a nice comparison with today. (Whether the site is still visible from the gallery is best checked up there.)
The company shop is open regularly — the most accessible part of the story. Two and a half thousand items in forty square metres. Worth picking up a pencil and reading the letter on it — after the previous paragraph it is not just a brand.
The customer centre with exhibition opens only by arrangement for groups, but tours are led by long-serving employees — the kind of guide you rarely find elsewhere.