Ore Mountain folk art

Ore Mountain folk art (German: Erzgebirgische Volkskunst) is a well-known form of highly artistic wood carving from East Germany. Typical creations include Christmas decorations and products such as wooden miners' figures (Bergmannsfigur), Christmas angels (Weihnachtsengel), Reifendrehen figures of animals made by wood turning, smoking figures (Räuchermann), Christmas mountains (Weihnachtsberge) and Christmas pyramids (Flügelpyramiden), as well as candle arches (Schwibbogen), nutcrackers, and music boxes. Even today these are made entirely by hand, primarily in small craft businesses.

Ore Mountain Toy Museum in Seiffen
Exhibits in the Nutcracker Museum in Neuhausen

The centre for the manufacture of Ore Mountain folk art lies in the region around the village of Seiffen, which is also known as the Toy Corner (Spielzeugwinkel). Here most of the manufacturers have joined Dregeno, the association of woodcarvers, sculptors, wood and toy makers. One of the largest collections of folk art is at the Ore Mountain Toy Museum in Seiffen. In the neighbouring village of Neuhausen is the first nutcracker museum in Europe, which houses more than 5,000 examples, the largest collection of nutcrackers in the world.

The logo of the craftsmen is a miner on a rocking horse.

  • Schwibbogen and nutcracker (centre) and Räuchermänner (left, right) in Seiffen
  • Christmas pyramids from the House of Tilgner
  • Räuchermänner being painted (Seiffen, 1947)
  • Production of Reifentiere wood-turned animals (Seiffen, 1929)
  • 1930th: The born child, called Bornkinnel

See also

Sources
  • Manfred Bachmann: Holzspielzeug aus dem Erzgebirge, Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1984
  • Werner Pflugbeil: Zur geschichtlichen Entwicklung der bergmännischen Holzschnitzerei im Erzgebirge. In: Sächsische Heimatblätter Heft 1/1972, p. 5-11
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