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.
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 out of posts. On show were products of Runddreherei, a form of woodturning and ornate carvings, as well as straw-covered objects, which were actually not part of the business, but were made at the request of the leader.
The exhibition was organised by a priest, Hermann Härtel (b 30 September 1864 in Lichtenstein; d 7 August 1919 in Seiffen/Sa.) together with the district trade association which he had been chairman of for many years. Härtel enhanced the exhibition with a part of his parish collection.
In a room that had been furnished in the manner of an old Ore Mountain parlour were displayed a painted four-poster bed (1764), a huge chest (1734), a chest with a lid painted on the inside (1785), a colourful wardrobe covered with flowers (1798), a giant farmer's table with a tabletop of valuable wood, stone items, guild tankards, glasses and other household items. On the table stood a might clay pitcher (1739), a tin lamp (Gockel-Lampe) and an open family bible. The whole was completed by a wood-shaving candlestick (Spanleuchter) with wooden shavings. After a tour visitors could buy a "miniature farmhouse room with a stove in a matchbox" at the counter.
On 5 December 1920, the newly created toy museum was opened in the State Trade Training School (Staatliche Fachgewerbeschule). The collection of "Older and Newer Playthings" acquired since 1914 by its founder, Oberstudienrat Professor Alwin Seifert (1873–1937) was enhanced by the Härtel Collection. For the 1944 trade show a farmhouse parlour was put together, along with a cocklestove (Kachelofen) and a fireside bench. A candelabra that hung over the table (made by Louis Strauß and restored today) gave the parlour the usual Christmas time decoration. Neither were Christmas angels, miners, nutcrackers or Räuchermännel missing. The exhibition also included interesting old and new toys and demonstration lessons from the training school. At that time it was the only toy museum in Saxony.
At the beginning of the 1930s there were attempts in the Seiffen region to create a central industrial exhibition. The then State Toy School took over the design and displays of the Seiffen Toy Show (Spielzeug-Werbeschau Seiffen) opened in 1936.
On 5 July 1953, the house was opened again as the Local History and Toy Museum (Heimat- und Spielzeugmuseum) and finally renamed into the Ore Mountain Toy Museum, Seiffen (Erzgebirgisches Spielzeugmuseum Seiffen). The first visitor to the museum was Rudolf Mauersberger, whose Dresdner Kreuzchor choir had sung that evening in the Seiffen Pinge (a depression caused by mining subsidence in which there is today an open-air theatre). In 1999 the toy museum underwent extensive rebuilding and extension. Today, on three storeys, there are around 5,000 exhibits as well as a great deal of background information.
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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.
The Ore Mountains lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic at 1,244 metres (4,081 ft) above sea level and the Fichtelberg in Germany at 1,215 metres (3,986 ft).
The Nuremberg Toy Museum in Nuremberg, Bavaria, is a municipal museum, which was founded in 1971. It is considered to be one of the most well known toy museums in the world, depicting the cultural history of toys from antiquity to the present.
Den Gamle By is an open-air town museum located in the Aarhus Botanical Gardens, in central Aarhus, Denmark. In 1914, the museum opened as the Denmark's first open-air museum of its kind, concentrating on town culture rather than village culture, and to this day it remains one of just a few top rated Danish museums outside Copenhagen, serving more than 400,000 visitors pr. year. Today the museum consists of 75 historical buildings collected from 20 townships in all parts of the country. The town itself is the main attraction but most buildings are open for visitors; rooms are either decorated in the original historical style or organized into larger exhibits of which there are 5 regular with varying themes.
National Museum of Folk Architecture and Folkways of Ukraine, is a 133.5 hectare open-air museum located at 1 Akademika Tronka Street, in the Pyrohiv neighbourhood of Holosiivskyi District, Kyiv, Ukraine. An architectural and landscape complex representing the major historical and ethnographic regions of Ukraine, it is dedicated to the preservation and study of regional Ukrainian folkways.
Alexander Girard, affectionately known as Sandro, was an architect, interior designer, furniture designer, industrial designer, and a textile designer.
Seiffen is a town in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in the central south of Saxony in Germany.
The Rheinisches Malermuseum is an art museum in Bonn, Germany. The museum is owned by a private association and has exhibits on forgotten artistic techniques and tools of the painter. It was established in 1985.
The Soltau Toy Museum, formerly the North German Toy Museum in Soltau originated from a private collection. It was founded in 1984 by Hannelore Ernst.
Ore Mountain folk art 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.
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.
Reifendrehen is a unique type of toy manufacture using wood turning techniques that was developed in the Ore Mountains in the vicinity of the town of Seiffen in Germany and continues there to the present day. The process produces small animals and other figures or even little wooden houses in outline, that are used as toys or to decorate Christmas pyramids or Nativity scenes. The animals and figures so produced are an inherent part of Ore Mountain folk art.
Tartu Toy Museum is the biggest toy museum in the Baltic States, located in Tartu, Estonia. It displays over 5000 toys from its vast collection and has several interactive toys for the visitors to try out, as well as a playroom for children. In 2005 the film puppets exhibition was opened in the courtyard house, exhibiting film puppets made in Estonia over the last 50 years, props and sketches of animated movies.
The Miners' Parade is a parade traditionally held in places in Austria and Germany where ore was and is smelted. It was and is a public event held by a community or corporation whose employment is linked to mining and smelting. It is usually known in German as a Bergparade, but also as a Berg- und Hüttenparade. It takes place as one of the highlights of a festival. The Miner's Parade is a special form of procession which is organised to march past important dignitaries or which is organized for such high-ranking individuals.
The Glassworks Museum of the Ore Mountains is located in the old socage vault (Fronfeste) of Purschenstein Castle in Neuhausen/Erzgeb. in the German Free State of Saxony.
The Historic Toy Museum in Freinsheim in Germany is a private collection of old toys.
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.
