Swarovski crystals

Finding the Swarovski Crystal Museum in Wattens after we left the Innsbruck-Salzburg Autobahn proved to be very easy, despite the many intersections ...

... everywhere we were accompanied by signs, not white, and not green (according to the rules of the road), but chocolate brown.
Having put the car from the edge of a large parking lot, along the sidewalk we headed for the entrance to the museum.
To the left of the cars, to the foot of the mountains, a park and fields stretched, and to the right two gray box-buildings of the Swarovski factory towered.

At the end of the sidewalk, the Entrance sign directed us in the direction where there were no buildings. And almost immediately around the bend, as if from under the ground, behind a merrily spraying stream of fountains, a green miracle grew - the head of a good-natured giant with sparkling eyes. It turned out to be the entrance to the underground museum, which is commonly called the "world of fantastic sensations." Even in the "academically" dry guide to Austria, carefully avoiding colorful epithets, the description of Wattens began with an urgent recommendation: "Be sure to visit the Swarovski Crystal Worlds fantastic museum!
The fourteen wonderful underground rooms of the museum were created in 1995 by a group of artists led by multimedia manager Andre Heller.
The rooms are separated by heavy black curtains. As a result, you suddenly find yourself in the fairy-tale world of the museum: you go through the lobby, move the curtain aside, take a step into the dark - and you find yourself inside the first of the rooms - a dark blue treasure chest. In the center of this casket is Centenar, the largest faceted crystal in the world weighing 300,000 carats. He is surrounded by compositions of crystals on the works of art by Kyle Haring, Niki de San Falli, John Brecke, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol. One wall of this hall, 11 meters high and 42 meters long, is completely lined with crystals.
Such a beginning, evoking a sense of admiration, was nevertheless associated with an ordinary museum. But further, stunning fantasies awaited us. The first surprise was the Jim Whiting mechanical theater - a surreal mobile installation made of flying hangers, spinning coffee tables with guests sitting behind it, puppet dolls representing torso below the waist with jerking legs, and beautiful models on the catwalk of the anatomical theater. The figures in the mechanical representation move in turn, the viewer's attention is switched from object to object using spotlights.
After that, we found ourselves in a “cathedral” - a dome whose walls and ceiling are lined with crystals with faces from mirrors. In such a space, an impression of infinity is created, which is enhanced by the music of Brian Eno. It was difficult to believe that only 595 elements formed this effect.
Having come to our senses a bit, we continued our inspection: we watched a constantly changing mosaic in the largest kaleidoscope of the world, admired the winter sculpture "Silence of the Light" by Tord Brontier and Alexander McQueen, the pulsating calligraphic delights of the American artist Paul Zaide, dedicated to the expressionist poet George Trakle - and suddenly ... again got into a mechanical play, now in the "Theater of Crystals" by Suzanne Schmeggner. Her heroes, among others, were a mythical creature that changes faces, the Sun, dancing with the Moon, a predator plant, devouring crystals.
In the next room, we were given the opportunity to leave our mark on art. Each, passing through the ice tunnel created by Oliver Irshits, leaves behind a bizarre chain of crystals scattering across the floor. In passing, joining the world of the great, behind another black curtain, we found a magnificent collection of their creations.Here, with the help of crystals, canvases, photographs, drawings and reproductions of Marc Chagall, Erte, Gustav Klimt, Kurt Kochercheidt, Peter Cogler, Joan Miró, Walter Navratil, Helmut Newton, Andy Warhol and other world famous masters of the last two centuries were interpreted. art, we moved into the chamber world of "ordinary" things. In the next room were exposed a staff, a ring, gloves and other personal belongings of a giant whose head became the entrance to the museum. A huge harmonica played there, sometimes squeezing, now unclenching its furs.
This hall was followed by a music room where the famous singer (soprano) Jesse Norman performed the final aria from Henry Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas. Huge rock crystal from Madagascar was also exhibited here. From here we got into the expressive kingdom of Poseidon. Streams of light, like waves, rolled over the inhabitants of the deep sea.
The Poseidon Tunnel led us to the next music ... true, silent room. The video composition "55 million crystals" as conceived by Brian Eno was to demonstrate the transience of music. Each of his paintings, like the sounding note of a musical work, lived for only one instant.
But it turns out that not only the world of music, but also the world of science inspires creative individuals to create works of art. A spiral of 48 polygons led us to the center of the hall, where the formation of crystals was clearly demonstrated and their secrets revealed.
And then science again intertwined with poetry: inside each tree of the Crystal Forest, the creation of Fabrizio Plessis, a crystalline core was inserted, designed to breathe new life into the cracked wood.
The last hall of the museum was dedicated to the history of the Swarovski family, beginning with the founder of the company, Daniel Swarovski I. This hall organically turned into a festively decorated, sparkling with hundreds of lights, the world's largest Swarovski store.
At first, visitors admire the exclusive design objects exhibited in the windows - necklaces and necklaces, bracelets and miniatures, panels and tiaras. And then begins no less exciting action than a visit to the museum - shopping.
Of course, after such an unusual journey through the underworld, we could not refuse a cup of coffee in a cafe decorated with a “waterfall” made of crystal strands, or a walk in Swarovski Park, where decorative plants were organically combined with landscape sculptures. It is only a pity that by age we were no longer suitable for classes in the "Crystal workshops", which are conducted under the guidance of famous artists for young visitors - from 4 to 16 years old ...
Photo and text: Elena Karpova

Having parked the car from the edge of a large parking lot, along the sidewalk we headed for the museum entrance. To the left of the cars, to the foot of the mountains, there was a park and fields, and to the right were two gray box-buildings of the Swarovski factory.

At the end of the sidewalk, the Entrance sign directed us in the direction where there were no buildings. And almost immediately around the bend, as if from under the ground, behind a merrily spraying stream of fountains, a green miracle grew - the head of a good-natured giant with sparkling eyes. It turned out to be the entrance to the underground museum, which is commonly called the "world of fantastic sensations."

To enter the museum and not get wet was not so simple. A pulsating trickle of a fountain flowed over every gaping visitor. There was no other way to the entrance!
The fourteen wonderful underground rooms of the museum were created in 1995 by a group of artists led by multimedia manager Andre Heller. The rooms are separated by heavy black curtains.


You suddenly find yourself in the fairy-tale world of the museum: you go through the lobby, move the curtain aside, take a step into the darkness - and you find yourself inside the first of the rooms - a dark blue treasure chest. In the center of this casket is Centenar, the largest faceted crystal in the world weighing 300,000 carats.


Centenar, the world's largest faceted crystal weighing 300,000 carats, is surrounded by crystal compositions on the works of art by Kyle Haring, Niki de San Falli, John Brecke, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol.


Such a beginning, evoking a sense of admiration, was nevertheless associated with an ordinary museum. But further, stunning fantasies awaited us. The first surprise was the Jim Whiting mechanical theater - a surreal mobile installation made of flying hangers, spinning coffee tables with guests sitting behind it, puppet dolls representing torso below the waist with jerking legs, and beautiful models on the catwalk of the anatomical theater. Figures in a mechanical theater move in turn, the viewer's attention is switched from object to object using spotlights. Interestingly, we later found variations on the theme of this mechanical theater in the windows of Vienna ...

After that, we found ourselves in a “cathedral” - a dome whose walls and ceiling are lined with crystals with faces from mirrors. In such a space, an impression of infinity is created, which is enhanced by the music of Brian Eno. It was difficult to believe that only 595 elements formed this effect.
Having come to our senses a bit, we continued our inspection: we watched the constantly changing mosaic in the largest kaleidoscope in the world,
admired the winter sculpture "Silence of the Light" by Tord Brontier and Alexander McQueen, the pulsating calligraphy of the American artist Paul Zaide, dedicated to the expressionist poet George Trakle ...

Suddenly we got into a mechanical play, now in the “Theater of Crystals” by Suzanne Schmeggner. Her heroes, among others, were a mythical creature that changes faces, the Sun, dancing with the Moon, a predator plant, devouring crystals.

In the next room, we were given the opportunity to leave our mark on art. Each, passing through the ice tunnel created by Oliver Irshits, leaves behind a bizarre chain of crystals scattering across the floor.





In passing, joining the world of the great, behind another black curtain, we found a magnificent collection of their creations. Here, with the help of crystals, canvases, photographs, drawings and reproductions of Marc Chagall, Erte, Gustav Klimt, Kurt Kochercheidt, Peter Cogler, Joan Miró, Walter Navratil, Helmut Newton, Andy Warhol and other world famous masters of the last two centuries were interpreted.

From the world of high art, we moved to the chamber world of "everyday" things. In the next room were exposed a staff, a ring, gloves and other personal belongings of a giant whose head became the entrance to the museum. A huge harmonica played there, sometimes squeezing, now unclenching its furs.


Then we got into the expressive kingdom - the tunnel of Poseidon. Streams of light, like waves, rolled over the inhabitants of the deep sea.


The world of science is also able to inspire the creation of works of art. A spiral of 48 polygons led us to the center of the room, where crystal formation was clearly demonstrated and their secrets revealed.

And then science again intertwined with poetry: inside each tree of the Crystal Forest, the creation of Fabrizio Plessis, a crystalline core was inserted, designed to breathe new life into the cracked wood.

The last hall of the museum was dedicated to the history of the Swarovski family, beginning with the founder of the company, Daniel Swarovski I. This hall organically turned into a festively decorated, sparkling with hundreds of lights, the world's largest Swarovski store.







At first, visitors admire the exclusive design objects exhibited in the windows - necklaces and necklaces, bracelets and miniatures, panels and tiaras. And then begins no less exciting action than a visit to the museum - shopping.

Of course, after such an unusual journey through the underworld, we could not refuse a cup of coffee in a cafe decorated with a “waterfall” made of crystal strands, or a walk in Swarovski Park, where decorative plants were organically combined with landscape sculptures.