German Christmas Decorations

The German's have some really cool Christmas decorations, some that I had seen before and some I had not. A lot of them are made out of wood. Most everyone has seen Nutcrackers like the one on the right. They also have smokers like the little Santa in the middle. They have a hole for a mouth and you put a piece of incense in them and then smoke comes out of their mouth. They make these in all different shapes, sizes and professions. The nativity in the front is all different pieces that when set up is kind of 3-D. My favorite by far though are the pyramids, or as Luc calls them "spinny deals." I have admired these ever since we moved here and only today pulled the trigger on buying one. I will be forever reminded of our Christmas's spent in Germany when I set this up every year. They are usually 2-4 levels high with scenes of the nativity or winter holidays. You light the candles and then the heat rising from the candles makes the propeller and scenes spin. I learned from the lady that sold us the nutcracker, smoker and pyramid that these originated in Southeastern Germany out of extreme poverty. The town (I can't remember the name) where our decorations were made is near the Erz Mountains and to make money the people decided to use the wood to first make the smokers, then came up with the nutcrackers and finally the pyramids. Here's a little tidbit I found on the Internet about Nutcrackers. The lady that sold them to us piqued my interest: In the German regions of Sonneberg and Erzgebirge, near the Bohemian border, the Ore mountains were rich with mineral deposits. Many villagers worked in mines, but wood carved during the winter until they could return to work. Life was tough for many people who worked long hours as miners and endured hardships and poverty. Often the miners watched as the fruits of their labor were taken by their superiors. The dolls were cleverly designed to resemble powerful people like kings, policemen, and soldiers. The townspeople enjoyed the caricatures of their rulers, because they were placed at their service to perform the lowly task of cracking nuts. When mineral deposits expired, miners began to make wood carvings the dolls all year. Eventually, these one-of-a-kind standing soldiers and kings became a symbol of the region and were sold all over Europe. Nutcracker pictures of the period recorded these early wood creations. A holiday table setting was not complete without a bowl of holiday nuts and a handsome doll standing beside it!