Their popularity soared after Tchaikovsky composed "The Nutcracker" ballet a century ago. The ballet was first shown in 1892 in St. Petersburg and is one of the most wellknown ballets in the world. It tells the story of the Christmas evening Clara is given a nutcracker, who became alive in the night.

The Erzgebirge (Ore Mountain) region is located in the eastern part of Germany not far from Dresden at the Czech border. About 400 years ago when silver mining subsided in that region, and the silver miners turned to toy making in order to make a living. Over the centuries they developed extraordinary wood carving skills that were inherited from generation to generation. Such items as the nutcracker were created in the Erzgebirge in the last century and became famous all over Europe. The German Poet E.T.A. Hoffman wrote a fairy tale about the nutcracker, and the Russian composer Tschaikowsky built a musical monument for the nutcracker by composing the Nutcracker Suite. More than 150 mostly family enterprises from the village of Seiffen (birth place of the nutcracker), and surroundings have formed a cooperative Dregeno Seiffen e.G.

The nutcracker in its present appearance has been created by the House of Fuechtner in Seiffen in 1870. Significantly, the original nutcrackers have distinguished features the way the eyes and nose have been carved, and the artisans painted phantasyfully their wonderful uniforms. Original Seiffen nutcrackers never were dressed up. Collectors recognize the value of the art of painting the nutcracker or it's pure wood work in its original variety.

Since the sixteen-hundreds the products of the Erzgebirge found their way throughout Europe from the cities of Leipzig and Prague. The village of Seiffen was located close to the so-called "salt street", a trade route that brought salt from the Halle/Leipzig region to Prague. Using this rout the toy-makers from the Erzgebirge mostly sent their products to Leipzig, a trading place for European goods for more than a thousand years.

History of the "Ore Mountain" Erzgebirge

In the pre-medieval times large forests covered the mountainous region between Chemnitz (former Karl Marx Stadt), Dresden and the Tchech border. In the chronicles of the Merseburg bishop Thietmar these forest carry the name 'Miriquidi' (lat. dark forest). The first settlers, mostly of sorbian (not serbian) and slavonian origin, are said to have come there shortly after the 5th century. Only in the 12th century, however, did widespread settlements appear. In 1170 a huge silver rush attracted workers from central europe to the hills of Freiberg. In 1188 a city was founded near the today's Zwickau. 25 years later the monastery of Chemnitz on the old road of salt trade received the rights to set up a market. Slowly the once dark forest grew thinner and thinner. Castles, many of which can still be visited today (eg. the famous 'Augustusburg') were built on numerous hills to control the valleys. Roads were established to reach out to the new villages and cities.

In 1436 tin was discovered which lead to another rush of settlements. The catholic counter reformation following the Lutherian reformation in the bohemain countryside created an huge number of evangelical refuges, who found their new home in the mellow hills of the Erzgebirge. In the 17th century the region fell victim to the 30 years war.