Glasmuseum Passau

In the heart of Passau's old town, the Glasmuseum Passau holds the world's largest collection of European glass. More than thirty thousand pieces fill the Wilder Mann, four historic buildings that also house a hotel of the same name. Germany's national directory of valuable cultural assets lists it.

The founder, Georg Höltl, oversaw the careful restoration of the complex and also invented the rolling hotels. Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, declared the museum open in March 1985. The holdings reach from 1620 to 1950 and draw on Bavaria, Bohemia, Austria and Silesia. The nineteenth century forms their centre of gravity, a golden age when those regions supplied Europe with everyday and artistic glass. Exhibits span Baroque, Rococo, Empire, Biedermeier, Historicism, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Detailed presentations follow individual workshops from their beginnings to their decline. Glass made for European royal families stands beside pieces shown at world exhibitions of the period.

The Wilder Mann itself becomes part of the experience. As you move from gallery to gallery, you walk through a piece of Passau's architectural history. Glass researchers and collectors travel from around the world to work with the collection. The Art Nouveau rooms alone hold more than a thousand works by Loetz. Some made their first public appearance at the Paris Exposition of 1900.