A little man with a big history

***image1***All over German Christmas markets, shoppers will find little wooden men, dressed as kings, bishops, even U.S. servicemembers.

They are nutcrackers. And, these smartly dressed little men find their origin in the
17th century, in the Erzgebirge, a mountain area near the Czech border.

At the time, ore was scarce, and miners were forced to find other things to make items.

The miners began turning every day items into little toy figures for their children, which eventually led to an entire new industry. They created different figures as an artistic expression of their interests and political concerns. One of the first items created was a wooden figure of a miner smoking his pipe called “Räuchermännchen,” smoking man. With the creation of mean-looking nutcrackers, they intended to insult the magistracy (government). Former miners also produced wooden policemen, foresters, soldiers and high authorities with scowling faces – that was their way of insulting the government and showing them that they were treating the miners unjustly.

In 1699, a wood craftsman from the town of Seiffen, which is located in the Erzgebirge, transported his homemade products on a wheelbarrow to the fair in Leipzig. Commercial relations were established, especially with the town of Nuremberg. And, that is how the manufacturing of these unique toys started.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the production of miniature toy figures became more and more popular. By 1890, customs were charged according to weight and not to the value of the products in exporting to other countries. This made it more expensive to export big toys. At the same time, wood prices increased.

Nowadays, the Erzgebirge region is well known for traditional Christmas symbols – miners carrying lights, angels, nutcrackers, nativity scenes, Christmas pyramids and wooden arches.

The mining, longing for light, joy of celebrating Christmas and the love that miners had for their children were the predominant reasons for this specific type of toy production.

Nutcrackers are available at many German stores, including Karstadt, real, Käthe Wohlfahrt and The House of 1,000 Clocks.