Nutcracker

The Nutcracker story was written by E.T. A. Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann of Koenigsberg, Prussia. It was set to music by composer Tchaikovsky and has become the most popular ballet performed around Christmas time . It is appealing to children and adults alike and has been a standard yearly feature of theaters in many cities.

The story of "The Nutcracker and the Mouseking", has been published in many book versions including cute charming children's versions.

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A Nutcracker as a wood carving of a soldier, knight , king or any other profession has been known at least since the 15th century. It is a carving of a person with a big mouth that is opened by pressing a lever in the back of the figurine. Originally you could insert a nut in the big-teethed mouth , press down and thereby crack the nut. Todays nutcrackers are mostly for decoration.

The carving of nutcrackers as well as religious figures and cribs? developed in forrested rural areas of Germany, where people could sit at their kitchen table (often the only table they had) and work. These work conditions are known in America as cottage-industries. The most famous nutcracker carvings come from Sonneberg, Thuringia, also a center of doll making, and from the Erzgebirge? or Ore mountain. Wood carving was usually the only income for the people living there. Today their income is supplemented by the travel industry bringing visitors to the remote areas.

Nutcrackers have become popular in the US as well and a recreated "Bavarian village" in the formerly delapitated Western town of Leavenworth in the State of Washington even features a Nutcracker Museum. Many other material were used for the decorator nutcrackers, such as porcellain, silver, brass and can be seen at the museum.

Names of carvers like Ulbricht, Jungbanel, Mertens, Karl, Kolbe,Petersen, Ulbricht and the most collected Steinbach nutcrackers have become items of collection value .

Througout the month of December many Christkindl Markt open air markets in downtown cities and villages in Germany are set up, all with the Erzgebirge nutcracker carvings and the Gluehwein, hot mulled wine. Consumption of this Gluehwein is a must to keep your toes from freezing. The most famous Christkindl Markt is held at the medival inner city of Nuremberg.

A very popular and similar event , although not called Christkindl Markt, takes place in Nevada City, in Northern California each year.