made in Germany

RARELY  DO  I  see an evergreen tree around the holiday season that I don't instinctively want to decorate (or redecorate). I even joked with a friend the other day when seeing a large cell phone tower disguised as a pine tree that it could use some seasonal help. But trees are naturally beautiful all on their own (I'm not sure about the impostor cell phone towers).

GERMANY  has long been known to produce some of the best holiday decorations. The authentic ones are less commonly found outside of Europe. A number of German companies now have their ornaments manufactured in China. But it's evident that a lot of pride and care is taken with those that are actually still made in Germany by the craftsmen that have learned their art from previous generations. The glass ornaments are crowned with stamped metal caps that signify the company or family who made them. I always look for the stray box or two at discount stores that sometimes have little tags on their hangers or are in specially-designed boxes with hangtag information that proudly say "Made in Germany" and tell you the story of their origin. There are plenty of sellers that import a variety of authentic German decorations also. One of my favorites sellers online for authentic German ornaments is the Christmas Haus in New Oxford, Pennsylvania. Imported heirloom-quality ornaments are more expensive, but are well worth it when you see them.

ASIDE  FROM  THE  beautiful glass ornaments and heavy silver lametta tinsel (that ages with a beautiful patina), one of the most intricate and skilled forms of folk art are "span trees" (above) and the decorations and ornaments based on the tradition of Spanbaumstecherei (Erzgebirge wood folk art deftly crafted with intricate curly branches formed from a single piece of wood). Span trees are referred to by several names—span trees, chip trees, splinter trees, shaved wooden trees, twilled trees, or curled trees. Using a method developed in the 1930s, the trees are meticulously hand carved of linden wood, curl by curl, layer by layer. They are so beautiful on their own, they need no other ornamentation. An evergreen doesn't seem complete without glittery baubles attached, or tinsel carefully draped on its branches during the holiday season.

MARTINA  RUDOLPH  and her husband are among the leading woodcarvers who produce these trees, ornaments, and other large wall and window decorations. As a child in the Erzgebirge, she learned her craft (the family tradition of Spanbaumstecherei) from a well-known wood carver—her father Helmut Beyer. Practice made perfect and the skills that started as a hobby became a profession—the age-old craft was reborn for the world to see. In 1996, she opened her own small workshop in Seiffen to once again produce her family's unique Erzgebirge folk art. It's becoming a rarity to see folk tradition carried to the newer generations. All-to-often the art is being lost to industrialized production, which makes cheaper ornaments, but they aren't the quality of those made with the love and care handed down through generations of craftsmen. These ornaments composed of thin strips of wood can't be mass-produced, which broadens their aesthetic appeal, just like the quilt made by your grandmother's hand. Nothing less is as warm and satisfying either.

IF  YOU  ARE  serious about collecting ornaments, the ones made in Germany are crafted to become heirlooms. Some of my favorite German-made ornaments in my collection are from Krebs Glas Laucsha. such as this hand blown and decorated Pinocchio ornament pictured here (who, in the story was not carved by a German, but an Italian woodcarver named Geppetto). The small village of Lauscha in the middle of Germany lays claim to being the birthplace of modern glass tree ornaments. The art of glassblowing from Laucsha became popular all over the world, with some of the most beautiful designs being developed by the Krebs family. The bohemian art of Krebs glass work later moved to Thuringia. The handcrafted Krebs Glas Collection has long been a favorite of collectors like me.

SPAN TREES | (Top) Shown with a traditional German smoker (incense burner) representing a spanbaumastechcherei woodcarver, two beautiful span trees are nestled within three handcrafted 3-D wooden star ornaments (2nd from top) from Straco Land (Erzgebirge Woodcraft)

ORNAMENT CRAFT | (Middle) Martina Rudolph and her husband make these beautiful star ornaments, wall or window hangers based on the meticulous craft of span trees handed down from Martina's father. They are sold in the U.S. by The Christmas Haus in New Oxford, Pennsylvania. 

SHINY AND BRIGHT | (Above) Authentic German silver lametta tinsel is distinctively heavy, drapes well, and oxidizes to a rich patina like fine silver after a few years. The glass indent German ornaments shown here came in a box of four (found at Tuesday Morning) were not marked by a particular company, but made in Germany tags proudly marked each hanger. If anyone can identify the cap (that pertains to the company) on these ornaments, please let me know. The brown coloration and gold glitter are distinctively rich and typical of old world ornaments crafted by artists that take pride in an art handed down by generations.

WOODEN BOY | (Right) This spectacular hand-blown and painted glass ornament is made by Krebs Glas Lauscha in Germany. The popular book The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi told the story of an Italian woodcarver named Geppetto, who carved Pinocchio from a piece of pine, creating him as a puppet, but dreamt of him becoming a real boy. 

 ©2010 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Photography, collecting and styling by Darryl Moland

Spanbaumastechcherei ornaments, window, or wall hangers are handmade by Martina Rudolph (or her husband), photography courtesy of The Christmas Haus in New Oxford, Pennsylvania

natural selection

WE ARE NOT living in an age of subtlety. "Reality" shows abound on television where the most obnoxious, outrageous and gaudy get all the attention. No publicity, is bad publicity anymore, even for State Dinner crashers and sons of reality show wannabe parents that hold the media aloft chasing spaceship balloons for hours on end. Christmas decorations have accordingly become gaudier and gaudier in large part due to florists and department store visual display artists trying to outdo each other in public displays. That's how they sell it—build a gaudy spectacle and they will come. This is not how it should be done at home. Somebody forgot the caveat "DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME" somewhere along the line. I remember hearing the mantra of a very successful florist — "if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing." Not so, when decorating at home.

I CAN CERTAINLY see the m.o. in that credo, and I for one, can appreciate the glee in over-the-top decorations. There's something about gaudy American consumerist spectacle that gives me a particularly sick sort of comfort—it's as if you're not part of the game if you don't participate. More lights in more configurations than you thought humanly possible? The more, the merrier! Commercial-sized plastic blow-up yard ornaments that lie in misshapen piles while the owners are at work during the day? Not so much. It's like getting behind rubbernecking traffic in a 10-car pileup on the interstate. One just hopes they can get by without seeing a crumpled mess, or even worse, a bloody scene, but you're still stuck in the slowed-to-a-standstill traffic. Commerce has overlaid the gentle quietness of nature.

WITHIN ITS ORIGINS, the tradition of the decorated tree began with a simple, some may say, superstitious, hope for the return to spring (as if the turning of the seasons was not a surefire thing). Nevertheless, a reverence for nature is slowly being welcomed back into decorating— bringing the ceremonial symbolism and true meaning of the decorated tree back to its noble origins. A beautiful symbol of the season is a glittery tree shaped from metal "twigs" and adorned with a subdued nod to the natural world in winter whites, tans and grays (above, right). The inclusion of animal ornaments; a polar bear, a mature deer and a small bird are indicative of what can be found in the market which pay homage to endangered species. It's as if we're grasping for an apology to the natural world for what we've done to it. Aside from being visually assaulted at every turn, it is becoming more and more apparent that we are destroying our own natural environment. We have a lot to learn from the pristine natural world (both flora and fauna) in its utter grace and simplicity. No matter how breathtakingly awesome the size of its vista, the natural world, as resilient as it is, is still ultimately fragile when you look at the underlying ecosystem. Nature depends on a complex system of co-habitation and synchronization and it is less and less able to cope with the destruction wrought by humans and the waste and byproducts of industrial "civilization." Pollution comes in too many forms.

MORE AND MORE one can find natural-themed ornaments— made from eco-friendly materials (or at least not plastic or resin). Some of the first ornaments I made as a kid were from a kit my mother bought me made of felt cutouts sewn together and glued with sequins and trim, similar to the felt reindeer ornament here (but much less sophisticated, of course) that seemingly dances among the (wooden, laser-cut) snowflakes (above, left). The Germans are most famous for their glass ornaments, but are also consummate woodcrafters. The two wooden  hand-carved folk art span trees (right) are carved, amazingly enough, from a single piece of linden wood with carefully-cut shavings curled upward to form their branches—works of art in themselves that need no ornamentation. The tableau is rounded out with a couple of hand-blown, metallic-finished glass ornaments, a birch bark folded star ornament, sweetgum tree fruits painted silver (given to me by my friend Julia Neville) and a pewter leaf ornament.

THE IMAGE (at left— click on to enlarge) illustrates my point more succinctly and poignantly as only art can do. I am thrilled to have permission to show the work of a very talented artist named Jaime Zollars. In the description of this piece by Jaime, it is succinctly said: "This image of forest creatures making the best of a bleak situation illustrates hope and the true spirit of the holiday season." In remembering that true spirit, I hope this gives one pause to stop and take time to remember that nature is ultimately responsible for the bounty of the season. Look to it to inspire and inform your holiday decorations. This method to our holiday madness is something we can all hope to achieve. And by doing so, we rejoin nature on a warm wind of change. 

WINTER WISHES |  This metal wire tree from Anthropologie is coated with glittery beads and is hung with a subdued color palette of ornaments: Czechoslovakian beaded ornaments, silvery gray mercury glass baubles and German glass-glittered snowflakes demonstrate the simple composition of this tableau. Beautifully-rendered animal ornaments stand watch and remind us that their environment and ours are essentially one-in-the-same and has to be taken into account for the survival of all. 

SNOWFLAKE DANCER | The artfully, beaded and stitched felt reindeer is from Homegoods. The laser cut wooden snowflakes are from West Elm (large), Target (medium) and Anthropologie (small). 

GERMAN FOLK ART | These wooden folk art span trees are carved from a single piece of linden wood curl by curl and layer by layer with a method developed in the 1930's by talented German craftsmen (these are from Straco and purchased at Homegoods). The two handblown glass ornaments have a beautiful rich crackled "tarnished" silver finish were bought at an arts festival in Atlanta, the birch bark folded star ornament was purchased from Martha by Mail a few years back. The sweetgum tree fruit is spray-painted silver and the pewter leaf ornament came from a shop in the North Georgia mountains. 

©2009 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED,

collecting and styling by Darryl Moland, 
photography (top, right) Harold Daniels Studio / 
assisted by Shawn May, 
(middle, left and bottom, right) Darryl Moland.
Artwork (bottom, left) by Jaime Zollars.