A typical souvenir of Mariazell is a snow globe featuring a miniature of the basilica. More than 100 years ago, Erwin Perzy developed a method to produce such small presents.
The history of snow globes
Erwin Perzy, a producer of surgical instruments in Vienna, tried to develop an extra bright light source for surgical lamps more than 100 years ago. As a side product, he created snow globes. The first structure displayed in these globes was a model of the Mariazell Basilica.
Sources / More info
- Vienna Snow Globe Manufacture (Website)
- Snow globes (Wikipedia)