Around 1900 the surgical instrument maker Erwin Perzy experimented with water-filled glass globes to amplify the light of bulbs. Instead of a better lamp, the snow globe was born: a miniature of the Mariazell basilica, water, white powder that sinks slowly. The patent was the beginning of a manufactory that is still in the family today.
On Schumanngasse in Hernals the globes are still filled and sealed by hand. A small museum shows the history, the showroom the variety: from St. Stephen’s to a globe for the White House. The recipe for the snow, by the way, is secret.
