The original Viennese snow globe
A Viennese instrument maker actually wanted to build a brighter operating lamp. The result was one of the best-known souvenirs in the world – still made in Hernals today.
An experiment that went wrong – luckily
At the end of the 19th century the Viennese surgical instrument maker Erwin Perzy was looking for brighter lighting for operating theatres. He experimented with the "cobbler's globe", a water-filled glass flask that concentrates the light of a lamp. To strengthen the effect he added small particles to the water – according to the story, semolina among them. The lamp did not get brighter, but the swirling particles looked like snow.
A friend who ran a souvenir stall asked him for something for pilgrims to Mariazell: a small model of the basilica went into a glass globe, together with water and "snow". Around 1900 Perzy and his brother Ludwig founded their own business – the Viennese snow globe manufactory.
A family business
The manufactory in Schumanngasse in the 17th district is still family-owned. The recipe for the liquid and the snow remains a trade secret. Besides Viennese motifs such as the Giant Ferris Wheel or St. Stephen's Cathedral, it also makes custom pieces. The family likes to tell of special commissions – such as a globe for Bill Clinton's team after his election as US president.
The snow globe also became famous through cinema: in Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" (1941) it is one of the central images.
Visiting
The manufactory has a small museum with a shop. Please check opening hours and visiting options on the manufactory's website before you go.
This article is based on "Снежный шар" ("The snow globe") in Code 43 magazine, winter 2014/2015, and has been newly edited for code43.at.