.st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a} chief curator of the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History presents a display of Kraslice eggs she created Kraslice (pronounced Kraslisa) are hand-painted eggs made in the tradition of the Czech Republic using wax and permanent dyes Schwan holds a series of egg-decorating classes at the Castle Her grandmother was born in the Czech Republic and Schwan views her classes as a way to share her culture and heritage with other people carefully draws a design in pencil on an egg she is making in a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History chief curator of the Castle holds a series of Kraslice egg decorating classes Kraslice is a traditional Czech method of egg decorating Lori Berton drew a design in pencil on an egg she is making in a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History the Easter holiday signifies the end of winter and the beginning of spring the time of year most often associated with eggs It was believed that the miraculous power of the egg was brought out through coloring and decoration You don't need fancy tools to make Kraslice eggs A person dips a tool made of a pin on the end of a wooden dowel into beeswax during a Kraslice egg decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History A candle heats the wax which sits in a bent spoon wedged into a potato People carefully spread beeswax onto their eggs during a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History you leave the egg white or dye it a light color and place your first wax design on the shell Then dye it a darker color and place your next wax design over that Repeat the process with darker color dyes until you're done and then remove the wax Removing the later wax will reveal darker designs and the earlier wax will reveal lighter designs They can be as simple or complicated as you make them Mary Nuechterlein spreads a design in beeswax onto an egg she is making in a Kraslice egg decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History It's easy to make your own beautiful Kraslice Easter eggs hand-painted in the tradition of the Czech Republic using wax and permanent dyes Sandy Schwan offers to color her students' eggs with a choice of colorful dyes in a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History A woman uses the head of a pin to place a design in beeswax onto an egg she is making in a Kraslice egg decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History Sue McClary spreads a design in beeswax onto an egg she is making in a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History McClary waxed an eight-point star onto her egg The Czech people believe that when a person is born and that star stays with that person their entire life their star dies and is visible as a shooting star Sandy Schwan removes one of her students' eggs from one of a choice of colorful dyes during a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History waits her turn to have her egg colorfully dyed during a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History Sandy Schwan wipes away excess dye after removing one of her students' eggs from a colorful dye during a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History Lori Berton places a beeswax design onto an egg she is making in a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History Students place several layers of wax design onto their egg and in between each layer of wax carefully draws a design in pencil on her egg during a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History Brian Grossman carefully applies a design in beeswax while designing his egg during a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History offers to color her students' eggs with a choice of colorful dyes a Kraslice egg-decorating class at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History After the dyes on her students' Kraslice eggs have dried Sandy Schwan uses an alcohol lamp to heat the beeswax designs on the shell so she can wipe it off and reveal colorful designs Sandy Schwan uses an alcohol lamp to heat the beeswax designs on the shell so she can wipe it off and reveal colorful designs at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History After she has removed the wax from her students' Kraslice eggs Sandy Schwan uses a file to drill two small holes so she can drain the yolk and white from inside the egg Mixing the contents of the egg so it can be drained Sandy Schwan uses a wooden stick to mix the yolk and white inside the egg so she can drain the liquid After drilling two holes and mixing the contents inside her students' Kraslice eggs Sandy Schwan uses a small siphon to drain the liquid Schwan collects the liquid from all of the eggs her students produce and then she feeds it to the critters living in her back yard Sandy Schwan displays one of her students' completed egg at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History Once she removes the liquid from inside the egg she installs a ribbon so the egg can hang as decoration she coats them with layers of polyurethane for strength and shine Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices Here in the Czech Republic, they’re known as kraslice or Velikonoční kraslice – intricately decorated eggs that no Easter would be complete without Coloring or decorating eggs for Easter is a tradition in many countries But the detailed work passed down through generations of Czechs has earned these varieties international recognition as “Czech eggs” in many areas abroad Through specialty retailers such as CzechEggs.com they typically go for upwards of $10-15 an egg one US town with some strong Czech roots has erected what’s being called the “World’s Largest Czech Egg” as a roadside attraction The rural community of Wilson, Kansas, population 760, is famed for their annual Czech Festival which celebrates the Czech heritage that many in the community share The town might now become known as location of the world’s largest hand-painted Czech egg Photo: Facebook / World’s Largest Czech Egg The Czech egg project took more than a decade to come to fruition 4.6-meter wide white egg appearing roadside off of the I-70 highway in 2013 “We’d been saving up money to do this egg but we couldn’t find anyone to manufacture it,” Wilson Chamber of Commerce president Jerry Florian told Kansas.com but the egg was left on its side a stand big enough to hold it could be assembled and delivered just in time for the community’s annual Czech festival later this month More information about the World’s Largest Czech Egg can be found via it’s Facebook page Your morning coffee deserves a great companion. Why not enjoy it with our daily newsletter? News from Czechia, curated insights, and inspiring stories in English. WILSON – It was Bořek Lizec’s first visit to Wilson The Chicago-based consul general of the Czech Republic was impressed with what he saw in the small Ellsworth County community of about 700 who was joined by a small entourage that included a fellow diplomat from Kansas City and his mother They have been very nice and generous towards me.” who answers directly to the Czechoslovakian ambassador contacted Wilson officials last week with the news he planned to make the trip but they scurried and arranged an afternoon and evening packed with events showcasing the community’s heritage.There was a series of tours demonstrations of Czech customs and crafts a meal for the visiting dignitary and a trip to a polka dance in Holyrood.“I am very surprised by all this,” Lizec said Tour timingWilson falls under the Czech Consulate of Chicago’s jurisdiction “I am trying the best I can to visit all the Czech centers in the area.”There is a reason for the timing “We are celebrating 100 years of Czechoslovakian statehood.”Independence came in 1918 at the closing days of World War I when the Austro-Hungarian Empire crumbled It marked the first time since 1620 that Bohemia was not under foreign rule.The only interruption were the 40 years under Soviet Communist rule during the Cold War era following World War II.“We want to thank these communities for the help and hospitality they extended to the Czechs who emigrated,” Lizec said “We also want to thank the United States for its support of the Czech Republic over the years.”“This was unexpected,” said Christy Dowling a Hays dentist and a Wilson native with Czechoslovakian heritage “We scrambled and put something together.”Dowling said they and hoped Lizec would come to the community during its annual Czech Festival in July assorted Czech heritage events and the Kansas Czech Queen Pageant.A member of the Kansas Czechs She said they apply for a grant each year through the Czech Consulate to help fund the event and it is Lizec who helps with that application process I can just picture what it would be like” when the festival is in full swing A royal treatmentThe afternoon started at Wilson City Hall where he was greeting by city staff They also views memorabilia and toured the Wilson Heritage Museum.“On behalf of the Wilson City Council and all our citizens I extend our gratitude and appreciation to Bořek Lizec for his support of the Czech culture in Wilson,” Ptacek said “Best wishes for continued success in his future endeavors.”Then Wenceslaus Parish Center where the Catholic Church Women demonstrated making jaternice (a Czech sausage) and tour of the church’s Czech stained windows and Czech saint statues.This was followed by pictures at the “Largest Czech Egg” in downtown Wilson and a shopping trip for Czech items and art at the Midland Mercantile The next stop was the Midland Railroad Hotel for a demonstration of kraslice (egg decorating) By Christine Slechta a performance by Wilson Czech dancers led by Paula Svaty-Gray and the introduction of the Kansas Czech queen Emma Karlin of Oberlin Czech grant recipients and others.There was also at the hotel was a Czech dinner Czech beers and a Czech toast – Na Zdravi (Czech for “cheers”).Lizec said he was overwhelmed He said he has learned much in his eight years in the Midwest, He is often struck by how deeply intact the ancient Czech traditions are and has gain insights in to his own culture Amati-Denak produces all kinds of woodwind and brasswind instruments While the company has a rich history dating back to the 17th century they made a dramatic technology change in the production of trumpets and saxophones (FIGURE 1) What were manually soldered joints on brass parts has been replaced by laser welding specifically for their top-class instruments An example of a saxophone produced at Amati-Denak ranks as the leader in the market regarding assortment range and quality it is one of the largest manufacturers of musical instruments in Europe All of the company’s products are made in its main factory in Kraslice where there is a rich tradition in making woodwind and brasswind musical instruments A second factory is situated in Hradec Králové where all rotary valve instruments of VF Červený are manufactured the British Geneva company acquired a majority of Amati-Denak which started another chapter in the company history There are now more premium brands being added to the Amati-Denak and VF Červený portfolio—Geneva Despite the current economic situation in central Europe the company managed to ensure sufficient production and sales mainly because of modern handicraft production which builds on years of experience and passion for making musical instruments Amati-Denak is currently collaborating with musicians dedicated to producing high-quality musical wind instruments with a unique full sound which is in demand in the current music world together with the understanding of musicians and their requirements provides the company with a basis for making wind instruments of the highest quality on the market The company can satisfy the tastes and requirements of all musicians they aim to satisfy advanced players and professionals This diversity of product range with unique variations gives customers the ability to choose the instrument consistent with the personality and style of each individual musician The main goal of the company is to supply customers with high-quality instruments that bring not only the perfect sound Amati-Denak’s musical instruments are manufactured in the cities of Kraslice and Hradec Králové Musical instrument-making had become a tradition in both cities hundreds of years ago and each city underwent a completely different historical evolution Kraslice can be considered a cradle of musical instrument production in the country as stringed instruments were first produced there at the beginning of the 17th century Melchior Lorenz was the first legally confirmed musical instrument maker the instrument makers of Kraslice adapted to the boom of orchestral music and aside from violin-making they engaged in the production of wind instruments Technical improvements of wind instruments at the beginning of the 19th century in which the Kraslice musical instrument makers participated resulted in increased interest in playing these instruments Instrument makers wanted to meet and satisfy most players’ demands thus making Austrian and French system instruments in Kraslice and The first factory had been established in Kraslice in 1840 and shortly afterwards there were already 11 factories in operation About 500 additional people were involved in domestic production there were 16 merchants trading musical instruments Production quickly recovered after World War I there were 59 musical instrument manufacturers—among the biggest of these firms were Bohland & Fuchs a cooperative of musical instrument manufacturers was established in Kraslice And because the production of both wind and stringed instruments was anticipated Kraslice gradually became a center of wind and percussion instrument manufacture the assortment of wind instruments produced in Kraslice is unusually wide and made up of practically all common instruments and the whole range of Orff musical instruments that are simple and easy to play play instruments alone as well as in groups All instruments are manufactured from quality materials with a high level of handcraftsmanship combined with modern technology Amati-Denak instruments are sought after for their award-winning features such as beautiful and mellow sound quality Although Amati-Denak is a very traditional company it has always been looking for innovations and best-available technologies to bring design and sound of their instruments to the absolute top level They identified one technological issue in joining technology in the production of trumpets and saxophones they must be produced as an assembly welded from several parts sometimes made from different brass grades These joints have been done by means of soldering using lead-based solder or by plasma-transferred arc (PTA) welding This is a proven and easy technology—however there is always a small notch remaining on the inner surface of the instrument PTA welding has other technological challenges including changing the joining technology to avoid grooves After conventional-technology welding trials failed to create reliable joints Amati-Denak asked the company MATEX PM for assistance working with technical people from Amati-Denak managed to prepare a reliable clamping device and after several trials they found proper parameters for reliable laser welding process and presented laser-welded samples (FIGURE 2) Examples of laser-welded sample pieces for saxophones are shown MATEX used one of their robotic laser cells to produce welded joints for Amati-Denak It is based on a KUKA robot and Laserline’s fiber-guided diode laser with available 5 kW laser power as well as continuous-wave and pulsed modes Also tested were many protecting gas mixtures several brass grades and slightly different sheet thicknesses may be used This caused concern because of the very high reflectivity of laser light from copper alloys The most demanding challenge was construction of a precise clamping device which can keep complex-shaped instruments in precise position during the welding process Amati-Denak’s processing needs were readily accomplished with laser welding the metal surface can be in the shiny polished condition There is no other surface treatment done before welding and no preheating is allowed and the joints are only mechanically polished after welding to make them virtually invisible Welding speed and price-per-meter of weld seam are taken as unimportant parameters because it is obviously very fast and affordable compared to other production steps Most important is visual quality of the instrument The success in welding lies not in laser wavelength—the diode laser is similar to neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) but combines proper pulse length related to metal sheet thickness MATEX used to concentrate on laser hardening for the automotive and heavy machinery industries so its laser operators and welding engineers were quite surprised and skeptical about this job it was taken as a new opportunity and a chance to prove their mastery and it took quite a long time to set the proper parameters after the first parts were successfully welded their pride and satisfaction with the breakthrough were clearly visible It wouldn’t have been possible to solve the technology issues without their enthusiasm and skills laser welding is used for production of some types of top-class instruments It is something different than mass production for automotive which is a typical application for laser welding This application is more like prototype production but Amati-Denak and MATEX are sure that laser technology helps to create masterpieces with very unique design and sound Laser robotic welding instead of conventional soldering and welding is now the main process for making brass instruments as it meets Amati-Denak’s goal of getting a perfect connection of parts made from brass material TOMÁŠ MUŽÍK ([email protected]) is with MATEX PM, Plzeň, Czech Republic; www.matexpm.com/en, while VLADIMÍR HAVRÁNEKis with Amati-Denak, Kraslice, Czech Republic; www.amati.cz/en .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Eric Dresden | The Saginaw NewsSAGINAW — While creating the perfect Easter egg might seem like an easy task a group of about 20 designed Kraslice eggs which takes a little more time and creativity than a normal egg which are hand-painted eggs coming from the Czech Republic led artists for about two hours in their creation of the eggs Tuesday afternoon Schwan’s grandmother was born in the Czech Republic and giving some history is always fun for her "I love being able to share my culture and heritage with people in such a fun artistic way," she said Schwan showed many of the Kraslice eggs she created She started her work with them about eight years ago The group started by using wax to create a design adding different shades and colors to the egg When finished with the dye the take the wax off and the egg is finished This is the third year she has helped groups create the specialized eggs with groups at the museum and many were repeat attendees Geiersbach of Saginaw Township spent time creating a design for her egg before she came on Tuesday afternoon "I was just so impressed that I invited my friends to come," she said Many in the group created eggs that had star designs on them symbolizing an old Czech belief that when a person is born Meanwhile Geiersbach and Ellen Fisher of Bridgeport Township were among some who created their own designs beforehand Fisher created a design which featured a flower and used pink and teal dye to color it This was her second year attending the event that’s why I’m back a second time," she said It’s fun for Schwan because she gets to see people learn and said many get excited to design a creation for the next year The best part of teaching the class is watching people who didn’t think they could create an egg in the beginning "People really enjoy it and people come away with comments like ‘I didn’t think I could do it,’"Schwan said "It’s fun that (the eggs) turn out so great." \n m_gallery = \"kraslice_a_czech_tradition_of_egg_decorating_at_the_castle_museum_in_saginaw\";\n m_gallery_id = \"9482326\";\n m_gallery_title = \"Kraslice a Czech tradition of egg decorating at the Castle Museum in Saginaw\";\n m_gallery_blog_id = \"4473\";\n m_gallery_creation_date = \"Wednesday 9:36 AM\";\n m_gallery_permalink = \"http://photos.mlive.com/4473/gallery/kraslice_a_czech_tradition_of_egg_decorating_at_the_castle_museum_in_saginaw/index.html\";\n m_gallery_json = \"https://blog.mlive.com/photogallery/4473/9482326.json\";\n m_gallery_pagetype = \"embed\";\n m_gallery_type = \"photo\";\n <\/script>\n Gallery: Kraslice, a Czech tradition of egg decorating at the Castle Museum in Saginaw Actress Cynthia Nixon, best known for her role as Miranda Hobbs in the TV series Sex and the City, shared photos of a family visit to Europe with her wife Christine Marinoni and their son Max during the Easter holiday. Nixon shared photos of their trip on Instagram, where she has more than 1.2 million followers, revealing that they spent their spring holiday in Vienna and Prague, and also visited the Czech town of Třebíč. In the post, the actress-turned-politician heaped praise on the Andaz Prague, the hotel where the family stayed, as "sumptuous and artful!" She shared photos of traditional Czech Easter eggs, kraslice, and a shot with Marinoni with Třebíč in the background. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cynthia Nixon (@cynthiaenixon) Nixon was in town to honor the 40th anniversary of the making of Miloš Forman's film "Amadeus," where she played the part of Lorl, Mozart’s maid, when she was a teenager. "When I was 16 I had the enormous honor of being cast in 'Amadeus,' directed by the great Miloš Forman. Making a movie that would go on to win 8 Academy Awards was really something, but the experience was particularly memorable because we shot in Czechoslovakia under communist rule," Nixon writes in the post. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cynthia Nixon (@cynthiaenixon) The event took place at Dox Museum where the actress also met U.S Na oslavu 40. výročí natáčení Amadea pÅ™ijela na rezidenci velvyslance i americká herečka Cynthia Nixon, která si ve filmu také zahrála. Víte, v jaké roli? 😉 pic.twitter.com/mIcszfNHQq She has served on the board of the Alliance for Quality Education a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the quality of education in the New York state Nixon has also been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and has spoken out about the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in media .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Lindsay Knake | lknake@mlive.comView full sizeJeff Schrier | The Saginaw NewsSandy Schwan chief curator at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History displayed some of the Kraslice eggs she made in the past.Easter Sunday is upon us — a day for celebrations others hunting for colorful Easter baskets and eggs while others tuck into a home cooked meal featuring honey-baked ham The Saginaw News wants to hear about your favorite Easter celebrations Vote in the poll and share your Easter stories and traditions below