Wiener Schneekugelmuseum
Small museum in the Perzy family's manufactory: the invention and craft of the Viennese snow globe, with a view into the old workshop and a sales room.
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About the museum
The snow globe is a Viennese invention. Erwin Perzy I., a mechanic for surgical instruments, experimented around 1900 with ways to strengthen the light of the new carbon filament lamp. He filled a water-filled glass sphere with various materials, and the granules sinking down reminded him of snowfall. With a small church model inside, the first snow globe was born; the business was founded around the same time.
The company stayed in family hands. After World War II, Erwin Perzy II expanded exports, his son Erwin Perzy III opened up the Japanese market among others, and since 2020 Sabine Perzy II has run the manufactory in Hernals. Every globe is still made and painted by hand, and the snow recipe is a family secret.
The museum is attached to the manufactory and displays old and new snow globes, custom pieces and the workshop of the great-grandfather on about 50 square meters. A free audio guide accompanies visitors through the exhibition, and the adjoining sales room offers hundreds of motifs.
Highlights
- Original workshop of the company founder
- Old and new snow globes as well as custom pieces
- Free audio guide in German and English
- Sales room with hundreds of handmade motifs
- Founded
- 2002
- Operated by
- Original Wiener Schneekugel e.U. (Familie Perzy)
Admission & discounts
| Groups (10+ people) | –Guided tours for groups of 10 to 30 people are free. |
|---|
The website does not list an admission fee. Group tours are free. With the Wien Karte (Vienna City Card), you get 20% off purchases in the shop.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Antonigasse (Linie 42) bzw. Sommarugagasse (Linie 9)
Tram 42 from Schottentor (U2) or Währinger Straße (U6) to the Antonigasse terminus; tram 9 from Gersthof (S-Bahn) or Westbahnhof (U3, U6) to Sommarugagasse.
By car
No parking of its own; street parking in a district with residential parking permits (Parkpickerl). Parking tickets are sold at every Trafik (tobacco kiosk).
Amenities & dining
- Museum shop
Sales room with snow globes right next to the museum.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 60 min |
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| Audio guide | yes (DE, EN) |
| Good to know | Group tours (10–30 people) Monday to Thursday by appointment only; no tours take place from early November onward. |
