In Austria, in the small town of Wattens, which is nestled near Innsbruck, visitors will experience a magical adventure and immersion in the mysterious depths of underground crystal worlds!
The entrance to the "Crystal Worlds" crowned with the head of the "Giant" is a grassed hill, adorned with sparkling crystal eyes and a mouth, from which the water flows with a fountain, and a wide park with a delightful landscape spreads around it..And what does this Giant do here, you ask? Once upon a time in Tyrol, the historical region of Central Europe, there lived a giant who had many, many treasures, carefully guarded by them .From this long-standing legend was taken the image of the Giant Guardian .And erected a monument to him right above the entrance to the cave, and he was instructed to guard the untold treasures of Swarovski!
| Museum of Swarovski |
| The entrance to the "Crystal Worlds" is |
| Medusa siphonophore |
Here, in the "Crystal Worlds" there are annual exhibitions and festivals dedicated to one or another country .For example, in 2009 in the quiet and sunny winter months, suitable only for meditation and skiing, the museum hosted the festival "Brazil on a visit to the Giant" .Within the framework of this festival, the organizers pleased the visitors with the performance of the Brazilian macho, skillfully performing "Capoeira", which is a passionate mix of acrobatics, games and national Brazilian music..It was delicious! A separate part at the exhibition were photographs and graffiti from São Paulo, as well as unusual design artworks of a variety of styles directions .
Well, an encouraging statement! And now we will try to arrange a small excursion to this mysterious dungeon.
| The head of the giant, the entrance to the "Crystal Worlds" |
| Crystal wall height 11 and length 42 m |
| In the Swarovski Museum |
The first thing we see in the cave vestibule is the variations on the works of art by Keith Haring, Nicky de Ce-Falli, John Breccke, Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol, and in the center of all this splendor is the main exhibit - centenar - the largest faceted crystal in a world of 300,000 carats! Each side of the crystal sparkles with all the colors of the rainbow. An unbelievable sight! Not having time to admire the centenar, we move to the next room and get into an unimaginable intelligence extravaganza - the mechanical theater of Jim Witing. Everything here - clothes, dolls, everyday objects - suddenly come to life and turn into dancing and flying objects.
But this was only the beginning! The next illusion that we are going to experience is finding yourself inside a giant crystal! "A thousand-fold refraction of light to the music of Brian Eno, the sea of mirrors creates the impression of an infinite space" - we are in the Crystal Cathedral - a dome of a geodesic form consisting of 595 elements.
We pass forward, and we are already at the Crystal Theater - "the shimmering, magical ensemble of costume designer Suzanne Schmönger." And here your imagination is invited to the flight!
Now it is worth looking around. Where did we get to? In the art gallery full of paintings, photographs, drawings and reproductions of Marc Chagall, Peter Kogler, Joan Miró, Walter Navratil, Andy Warhol and many other masters.
We go further, and in the next room we are already circling, like in a whirlwind, in a kaleidoscope of images and sounds.And, behold, we almost finished our amazing excursion to the world of crystal! Want more? Remains the last hall on the second floor, which will appear before us in the form of the creation of Fabrizio Plessis. The name of his work is "Crystal Forest". Trees do not grow in the same way as in the usual forest - they hang from the ceiling, and in each tree there is an artificial core with a built-in video composition. Very unusual, right? A walk through the magical forest is accompanied by a mysterious shimmering jellyfish siphonophores "Leviathan" - a composition by Thomas Feuerstein. Going down to the first floor, you can get acquainted with the videos and exhibits that show and tell about the members of the Swarovski family and their outstanding innovative ideas.
| Jim Wheiting Mechanical Theater |
| Sculpture Bruno Gironcoli Untitled |
| In the Swarovski Museum |
Well, if you are not tired of all this sparkling splendor and want to leave in memory not only memories of this amazing journey through the crystal worlds, your attention is invited to the world's largest store Swarovski, where you can delight your most sophisticated fantasies and thoroughly empty your wallet !!
Practical information
Museum address: Swarovski Kristallwelten, Kristallweltenstraße 1, A-6112 Wattens, Austria
- phone: +43 (0) 5224 51080
- official website
Opening hours of the museum:
- daily from 09:00 to 18:30 (the last excursion leaves at 17:30).
- December 24, the museum is open from 09:00 to 14:00 (the last excursion leaves at 13:00)
- December 31, the museum is open from 09:00 to 16:00 (the last excursion leaves at 15:00)
- from 8 to 16 November 2010 the museum is closed.
Ticket price:
- Regular ticket - 9, 50 EUR
- Group ticket (minimum group of 10 people) - 8, 00 EUR
- Children under 12 years old, members of the Swarovski Crystal Society, Crystal Worlds shopping is free.
| Medusa siphonophore |
| In the Swarovski Museum |
| Centenar |
| A plant devouring crystals |
| Exhibit Swarovski Museum |
| A fabulous sun dance with the moon |
| Sculpture "Silence of light" |
| Crystal tale, the sun dancing with the moon |
| Exhibit Swarovski Museum |
© Galina Iskakova
Reviews of the Swarovski Museum in Wattens (3)
Theatrical exposition of Swarovski crystals June 24, 2014
The museum itself did not impress me at all. Seeing such an original entrance from the giant's head, tuning in to something more than an exhibition of abstract compositions, where you often do not even understand what they wanted to say. For example, what symbolizes the dancing under ... Read the whole review
The Magic World of Swarovski 02 September 2013
It is difficult to stay in the labyrinth for a long time, visions and hallucinations begin. But ... Read the whole review