Neenah’s Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass showcases, teaches about, and celebrates glass and its applications in art, industry, and inspiration. Featuring the World’s Largest collection of glass paperweights, over 3,500 objects in its glass collection, and a variety of permanent and temporary exhibits.
The museum is a legacy of the prominent Bergstrom family, who made their fortune with their paper company that started in 1904. Evangeline Bergstrom, who grew up in Ithaca, New York and came to Wisconsin after marrying John Nelson Bergstrom, always had a love of paperweights and amassed quite a collection. She became an expert in antique paperweights, with her collection getting exhibited at The Art Institute of Chicago in 1939, getting interviewed on radio about them, appearing on cover of Hobbies Magazine, and even publishing a reference book that became widely used (perhaps sometimes as a paperweight itself!) Her collection of paperweights traveled to museums in Green Bay, Milwaukee, and elsewhere. In 1951, John Nelson Bergstrom passed away and left money to the City of Neenah for a museum for his wife’s collection; two years later, Evangeline donated their Tudor Mansion to the city. It took a while fully establish, but the museum officially opened in 1959. It was originally named the John Nelson Bergstrom Art Center; it later became the Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass, adding the name of Ernst and Carol Mahler, both enthusiasts and benefactors who helped develop the original museum.
Today, along with the world-record collection of glass paperweights, the Museum offers an impressive and colorful collection of glass neon signs, Germanic glass, Contemporary Glass, Art Glass, and more.
The Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass holds permament exhibits and a number of rotating exhibits along with a series of classes for adults and children alike, Art Activity Days, Scout Classes, even the monthly Spark! Memory Loss Program, because art and glass can have healing and restorative effects.
You’ll find the Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass on Park Avenue in Neenah, tucked into where Little Lake Butte des Morts and the Fox River meet Lake Winnebago, across from Doty Island. It’s just a few blocks from Highway 114. The lovely Kimberly Point Lighthouse is blocks away. I-41, U.S. 10, and Highway 47 are the main ways to get to Highway 114, Neenah, and the Museum.
Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass Hours & Admission…