Wooden Toymaking In The Ore Mountains
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Wooden Toymaking In The Ore Mountains
The history of wooden toymaking in the Ore Mountains is closely bound to regional circumstances. The Ore Mountains are located in Central Europe on the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. For many centuries it was a countryside in which the local population eked out a hard existence from the land. Long and harsh winters restricted agriculture; in addition the region had very poor communications. With the onset of ore mining a new line of commerce developed, but the hard labour and high risks involved meant that it was only work for young and strong men. Many were injured or died as a result of accidents. The miners rose early in the morning whilst it was still dark in order to go to work and did not return home again until late in the evening after dark. From those times comes a custom that has survived to the present day, the practice of placing lights in the window. These lights were intended to show the miners the safe way back to the homes of their families. It wa ...
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Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-P068876, Seiffen, Staatliche Spielwaren-Fachschule
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Ore Mountain Folk Art
Ore Mountain folk art (german: link=no, Erzgebirgische Volkskunst) is a well-known form of highly artistic wood carving from East Germany. It encompasses the diverse forms of expression of the creative work beyond the classical or the modern arts, and in particular the production of figures, sculptures and paintings. In a broader sense, the people's poetry, literature, and the Ore Mountain songs are in itself the folk art. The Ore Mountains claim to be the largest, enclosed folk art area in Germany. One of the more important aspects of the Ore Mountain folk art is the production of material products. The art's historical origin is closely linked to mining, which has been significant in shaping the development of the Ore Mountains since the 12th century. The economic downturn of the mining industry, or its widespread decline in the 19th century, encouraged the emergence of supplementary and replacement income, depending on local conditions. The motifs of this Ore Mountain wood ar ...
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Culture Of The Ore Mountains
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor, Edward. (1871). Primitive Culture. Vol 1. New York: J.P. Putnam's Son Culture is often originated from or attributed to a specific region or location. Humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization, which is shown by the diversity of cultures across societies. A cultural norm codifies acceptable conduct in society; it serves as a guideline for behavior, dress, language, and demeanor in a situation, which serves as a template for expectations in a social group. Accepting only a monoculture in a social group can bear risks, just as a single species can wither in the face of environmental change, for lack of functional responses to the change. Thus in military culture, valor is counted a typical be ...
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Ore Mountain Toy Museum, Seiffen
The Ore Mountain Toy Museum in Seiffen (german: Erzgebirgische Spielzeugmuseum Seiffen) is an internationally known museum of Ore Mountain toys and Ore Mountain folk art. It was opened in 1953 in Seiffen. In 1973 it was joined by the Ore Mountains Open-Air Museum (''Erzgebirgische Freilichtmuseum''), a folk art and local historic museum with 14 houses typical of the Ore Mountains before 1900 on the edge of the toy village. History The history of the toy museum began with the Seiffen Wooden Toy and Merchandise Exhibition (''Holzspielwaren- und Holzwaren-Ausstellung Seiffen'') that took place from 9 July to 3 August 1914 in the Albert Salon. For an entry fee of 50 pfennigs – 25 pfennigs for children – visitors were fascinated, for example, by a Noah's Ark with 300 animals, chess pieces, products of the ''reifendrehen'' woodturning craft that was only carried out in Seiffen at the time by a compulsory guild (''Zwangsinnung''), as well as larger animal figures, that were cut ...
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Ore Mountain Schwibbogen
A ''schwibbogen'' (, from Middle High German ', "to hover") is a decorative candle-holder from the Ore Mountains (''Erzgebirge'') region of Saxony, Germany. The first metal ''schwibbogen'' was made in 1740 in Johanngeorgenstadt. The early candle arches consisted of a single forged piece of black metal which could be painted. The number of candles varies with the size of the arc, the original design holding eleven. In the UK candle arches or candle bridges are marketed, often just consisting of a simple wooden stepped arch with 7 electric candles. These are not strictly ''schwibbögen''. Background The development of the ''schwibbogen'' arch is closely related to the mining traditions of the ore mountains. It most likely developed as a candle holder made from metal for the Christmas shift (''Mettenschicht''), a common dinner celebrated by miners, the mining foreman ('' Steiger'') and the smith who had been responsible for the mining tools throughout the year. It bears symbols co ...
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Weihnachtsberg
A Weihnachtsberg is a decorative, mountain-like model of the landscape of the Ore Mountains (between Germany and the Czech Republic), which is set up indoors during the Christmas period. It portrays the nativity scene In the Christianity, Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, crèche ( or ), or in Italian language, Italian ''presepio'' or ''presepe'', or Bethlehem) is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christ ... and mining motifs as well as local themes. The figures and objects are often movable and mechanically driven. The Weihnachtsberg has its origins in the so-called ''Buckelbergwerk'' models of the 18th century, which only had mining subjects. In the 19th century, Christmas scenes were added. Literature * Fachschule für Tourismus des Instituts für Soziale und Kulturelle Bildung e. V. (pub.): ''Heimat- und Weihnachtsberge des Sächsischen Erzgebirges.'' Husum Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft 1996, * Claus Leichsenr ...
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Miners
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, or otherwise working and removing the rock. In a broader sense, a "miner" is anyone working within a mine, not just a worker at the rock face. Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries, miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance. In regions with a long mining tradition, many communities have developed cultural traditions and aspects specific to the various regions, in the forms of particular equipment, symbolism, music, and the like. Roles Different functions of the individual miner. Many of the roles are specific to a type of mining, such as coal mining. Roles considered to be "miners" in the narrower sense have included: *Hewer (also known as "cake" or "pi ...
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Christmas Angels
Christmas angels are small wooden figures portraying angels often playing an instrument. They can be arranged to an entire orchestra. The origins of artistic angel carving lie in the Ore Mountains where the angels are an integral part of Ore Mountain folk art. The connection to Christmas comes from the central role which angels play in the nativity story told in the Gospel of Luke: A single angel proclaims the birth of the Messiah to the shepherds, upon which an entire choir of angels strikes up ‘Gloria in excelsis’. In the Christian tradition angels are believed to be proclaimers of the birth of Christ and bearers of divine light. __FORCETOC__ Characteristics Christmas angels are always made with wings to accentuate their heavenly character. They can be lacquered colorful or in natural wood colors. Among the colorful angels the color and decoration of the wings indicate the respective manufacturer who uses these features as a kind of trademark. Most angels stand on a ...
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Nutcracker
A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster and crab shells. A decorative version portrays a person whose mouth forms the jaws of the nutcracker. Functions Nuts were historically opened using a hammer and anvil, often made of stone. Some nuts such as walnuts can also be opened by hand, by holding the nut in the palm of the hand and applying pressure with the other palm or thumb, or using another nut. Manufacturers produce modern functional nutcrackers usually somewhat resembling pliers, but with the pivot point at the end beyond the nut, rather than in the middle. These are also used for cracking the shells of crab and lobster to make the meat inside available for eating. Hinged lever nutcrackers, often called a "pair of nutcrackers", may date back to Ancient Greece. By the 14th century in Europe, nutcrackers were documented in Englan ...
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Räuchermann
The ''Räuchermann'' (diminutive ''Räuchermännchen''), erzgebirgisch ''Raachermannel'' is an incense smoker, the invention of toy makers in the Ore Mountains, used to burn down cone incense, known as '' Räucherkerzchen''. The ''Räuchermann'' was first mentioned in 1850 and is now a common component in the Ore Mountain Christmas tradition. For this, an incense cone is first lit and then put on the lower half of the two-part wood figurine. The hollowed-out upper part is placed over the lighted cone, which burns down inside of the hollow figurine, the smoke leaving the mouth hole of the ''Räuchermann''. Before the ''Räuchermann'' was invented, cone incense was displayed and burnt down in the open. During Christmas time ''Räuchermänner'' are displayed together with ''Schwibbögen'' (candle arches), miners' figurines, angels, and Christmas pyramids. Several kinds of figurines exist, traditionally representing craftsmen of the region, such as foresters, peddlers, miners, ...
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Christmas Pyramid
Christmas pyramids (german: Weihnachtspyramide) are Christmas decorations that have their roots in the folklore and customs of the Ore Mountain region of Germany, but which have become popular internationally. They comprise a decorated pyramidal outer frame with candle holders and a central carousel with a rotor at the top which is driven by warm air from the lit candles. The carousel is decorated with nativity scenes and other Christmas figures such as angels and wise men, as well as worldly motifs such as mining folk and forest scenes. Description It is suggested that the Christmas pyramid is a predecessor of the Christmas tree. These pyramids are not limited to Christmas: in the Ore Mountains there was a custom of dancing around the "St. John's Tree", "a pyramid decked with garlands and flowers", at the summer solstice. Not actually pyramid-shaped, the Christmas pyramid is a kind of carousel with several levels, some depicting Christian motifs such as angels or manger scene ...
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