Saint Factory
In the south of Poland a small Silesian town is home to a unique form of manufacture; for over a hundred years concrete and plaster statues of the saints have been made using traditional methods. When the Workshop of Sacral Art was founded in 1898 by Kazimierz Schaefer, it had two sister branches in nearby towns and incorporated a bookshop and an embroidery section. The manufactured products were widely awarded both at home and abroad.
Now one hundred and fourteen years-old, the factory is currently run by Schaefer's granddaughter Barbara. Statues of Christ, the Popes and the saints as well as recreations of the Christmas nativity are being sold both locally and on the international market.
At its peak the factory employed dozens of workers, but now it consists of only five individuals. Despite the recent recession and competition caused by an influx of cheap plastic figures from China; not only has the manufactory survived but the quality and aesthetic value of its creations remain second to none.
