A glass experience

It is understandable that when we think about glass our mind goes straight to Venice and the Venetian glassblowing art, but you must know that by the late 1500’s, many Venetians went to northern Europe seeking for a better life and new places to establish their workshops. This migration helped to spread the art of Venetian glassblowing all over Europe and then to the United States.

Today we will be focusing on German glass… maybe you are wondering why Germany?. Simply for work, we had to visit the area of Bavaria in search of new artists for Snowdrop and in this area, there is what is called “The Glass Route”, 250 km of glass history and artists in the middle of the black forest. There, we discovered the city of Passau. Passau is also known as the “city of three rivers” because is where the Danube is joined by the Inn and the Ilz. Passau is a baroque city in the lower Bavaria and near the Austrian border. While walking through its narrow and winding little streets and alleys, at the end of the “artists alley” we find the Rathausplatz, a square built in Venetian style with frescoes from 1446 and the Danube facing the hall building. In a square corner there is a historical building, where for centuries was the city judge’s house, today is the Hotel and Glass Museum.

Exhausted after a long day walk and contacts we arrived at what would be the second stage of our journey: an intense immersion in part of the central Europe glass history by spending the night in the hotel/museum. The experience was amazing!
Inside, the building is a vaulted structure with thick walls and a maze of hallways and nooks where the rooms and some samples of the museum’s Glass Collection are located.

The next morning, we woke up and had breakfast in the top floor restaurant where a beautiful and sunny morning embraced the roofs of the city and illuminated the waters of the Danube. With this magnificent show we finished breakfast and walked through the terrace with a steaming cup of coffee in our hands and as a background, one could hear the sound of the bells of St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

The museum has a 30.000 pieces collection representing the European glass from 1650 to 1950. From Baroque, Rococo, Classicism, Empire, Biedermeier, Historicism and Art Nouveau. From the first frosted glasses made with bone powder and enamel painting of the Empire style to the first richly cut goblets of Silesian glass. Rich Bohemian pieces from the latest 1800 from artist like Egermann, E. Hoffmann, Franz Hansel, and Ernst F. Wilhelm S. exquisite examples of Uranium glasses, gold topaz, ferric oxide and green glasses with an abundant refinement of gold and enamel, white and pink alabaster and splendid Millefiori glasses… rooms where the sunlight penetrated between vases, goblets, bottles creating a sort of fabric of glitter and color that rejoiced the spirit.

Walking between showcases full of transparencies, colors, and history, from buttons, brooches, bottles for perfume, giant vases of Oriental, Persian and Indian Style to the sweet lines of the art nouveau glasses and vases, this visit was a breathtaking experience… it was all worth it!… the city, the museum and the night at the museum hotel.