German Nutcrackers in the USA

Nutcrackers have been admired for more than 300 years. Beginning in Germany, nutcrackers were not actually a popular collector's item in the United States until the 1950s. As many military men were in Germany during World War II they began visiting open markets in which they found the whimsical hand carved nutcrackers. The nutcracker was originally believed to protect from the evil. When the soldiers returned home after the war they brought with them a figure of power and protection for their families in the nutcrackers that they had discovered. Once the German nutcrackers caught on, it was difficult to stop their rising popularity.

Today there are plenty of homes that have nutcrackers with them. The Nutcracker Suite ballet of 1892 has helped tremendously to increase the popularity of nutcracker collecting. The magic and mystery of the ballet has been a strong fuel for those who believed that nutcrackers have powers of protection.

The very first nutcrackers were made in The Erzgebirge and were in the form of kings and soldiers.
The first workshop to craft nutcrackers had been the workshop of the Fuechtner family in the heart of the German Erzgebirge.

Today more than 100 workshops in the Erzgebirge make nutcrackers. Most of them make the classical Kings and Soldiers. The manufacturers Steinbach Marienberg and Christian Ulbricht have specialized in more modern designs. They started to create nutcrackers of American Presidents and many other famous people such as Pope Benedikt, Sherlock Holmes, King Cole and Albert Einstein. Together both manufacturers make about 400 different nutcrackers at the moment.

Particularly Herr Steinbach altered the traditional look and images of nutcrackers and brought them in an entirely new form. German folklore and legend features were added to the collection and now there are nutcrackers of every shape and form. In the United States alone there are millions of German nutcrackers who have found a shelter. Some nutcracker collectors own more than 1000 pieces.

During the Christmas holiday, nutcrackers are displayed as decoration and there are people who simply leave them on display for collective purposes. What began in Germany almost 300 hundreds years back has now grown to be a collector's item that encompasses the entire world. Today nutcrackers are one of the highly popular and sought after collector's items. Their whimsical ex-pressions and their tradition of bringing protection and good luck to their owners, it is a safe assumption that their popularity will stay for quite some time.

About The Author:
Marc Wiedmaier is COO of the German trading company Wibros GbR that has specialized in German handcrafts from the Erzgebirge such as nutcrackers, incense smokermen and Christmas pyramids. Wibros also carries over 500 original cuckoo clocks from the German Black Forest. Learn more about nutcrackers and incense smokers Get more information on cuckoo clocks.

Tags: NUTCRACKER, NUTCRACKERS, ERZGEBIRGE, COLLECTIBLES

Rating:

Comments

Your Name:
Email Address:
Title:	German Nutcrackers in the USA
Author:	Benz
Message about this article:

Main Menu

German Nutcrackers in the USA