document snuff factory

The former company building of the Bernard snuff factory represents one of the largest complexes of Regensburg townhouse architecture of the Middle Ages. Its changing use from noble residential and representative building of rich merchants to snuff factory reflects the history of Regensburg.

Thus, the so-called "Alchemist's Kitchen" shows as an authentic place the station of the fine mixtures of the sought-after varieties Pariser, Saarbrücker, Cardinal or even Offenbacher, which were joined by the "Schmalzler" or "Aecht Bayerischer Brasil-Tabak" from 1870. This snuff, sold under the trademark "Schmalzler Franzl", was in such demand that the factory was the largest snuff factory in Germany before World War II, employing about 350 people. The room was deliberately left in its original state, including the lighting conditions and, above all, the incomparable smell.

The traditional company Gebrüder Bernard produced noble tobaccos in the snuff factory for almost 200 years. An authentic impression of the art of tobacco production in a medieval residential palace, from the delivery of the raw tobacco to the packaging of the noble snuff, is conveyed as well as essential aspects of the company history of Bernard AG as the first snuff factory in Germany.

The collection of Georg Otto Christlieb, director of the Bernard company, with valuable and colorful snuff boxes and glasses, which has been transferred to the Historical Museum, focuses on the culture of snuff.