Frauenau Glass Museum

The Frauenau Glass Museum in the Bavarian Forest tells the story of glass from its beginnings in Mesopotamia to the art of today. Frauenau looks back on some 500 years of glassmaking and became a European centre of the studio glass movement, in which artists shape their work themselves at the furnace. Since 2014 it has been a state museum, and around the building the Glass Gardens display large glass sculptures in the open air.

History of the museum

The museum was founded in 1975 by mayor Alfons Hannes, the Frauenau glass artist Erwin Eisch, Gretel Eisch and master glassmaker Helmut Schneck. Eisch was a close friend of the American glass pioneer Harvey K. Littleton, which made Frauenau a meeting point of the international glass art scene. Several international glass symposia were held here between 1985 and 2000. A new building with roughly twice the exhibition space went up from 1999 to 2005 and opened on 10 June 2005. The State of Bavaria has run the museum since the beginning of 2014.

What to see

• Round building with furnace: the permanent exhibition on 1,300 m² circles a traditional pot furnace partly reconstructed in glass.
• Cultural history of glass: a walk through every period, with a focus on Bavarian-Bohemian glass.
• Living and working with glass: eyewitness texts, photos and original equipment show how a mouth-blown glassworks operated, and address automation and unemployment.
• Modern glass: including the Wolfgang Kermer Collection of some 350 objects by almost 200 glass artists, mainly from the 1950s to 1970s, and Erwin Eisch's installation "Narziß".
• Glass Gardens: the Glass Ark is moored in front of the museum, surrounded by more than 30 large glass sculptures. The gardens continue at the Eisch glassworks and the Moosau studio quarter, and there is a big adventure playground.

Opening hours and prices (as of October 2026)

• Open: Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays 9:00–17:00, closed Mondays and Christmas Eve.
• Admission: adults €5, reduced €4, Sundays €1, children and young people up to 18 free.
• Group tour: €45 per group.
• Accessibility: certified under "Reisen für alle"; all areas reachable by lift and platform lift.

Getting there and tips

The museum is just 300 m from Frauenau station, with hourly trains from Zwiesel and Grafenau, free with a guest card. By car, leave the B11 at Zwiesel Ost. The building also houses the tourist information, a Bavarian Forest National Park information point and a café. Allow 1.5 to 2.5 hours, or half a day with the Glass Gardens and the Eisch glassworks.