Mechanical Christmas Mountain (Museum of European Cultures)

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The mechanical Christmas mountain by Max Vogel, around 1885 / 1987–1995, in the Berlin Museum of European Cultures . Recording from 2017.

The mechanical Christmas mountain from Neuwürschnitz shows over a length of twelve meters with 328 figures, some of which are movable, scenes from the life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Resurrection . It was started by Max Vogel around 1885 and redesigned by Karl-Heinz Fischer between 1987 and 1995. This new version was acquired by the Berlin Museum of European Cultures , which is showing it as part of its permanent exhibition. The mechanical Christmas mountain is an example of a typical Christmas custom from the Ore Mountains, which reached its peak in the last third of the 19th and first third of the 20th century. However, with the breadth of the narrative, which is not limited to the Christmas story, it is an exception.

description

Mechanics for moving the sheep in the scene of the Annunciation of the Angels to the Shepherds .
The baptism of Christ.
The last supper.
The Calvary.

The mechanical Christmas mountain by Max Vogel from Neuwürschnitz is 2.2 meters high, 1.25 meters deep and stretches across the corner to a length of 12 meters. It shows the following 28 scenes from the life of Christ, with the Christmas story and the Passion story taking up the largest part:

  1. The announcement of the birth of Jesus / The Annunciation to Mary
  2. Jesus birth
  3. Annunciation of the angels to the shepherds
  4. The wise men from the Orient
  5. The angel appears to Joseph in a dream
  6. The Flight into Egypt
  7. King Herod
  8. Herod's child murder
  9. The raising of the daughter of Jairus
  10. The twelve year old Jesus in the temple
  11. Depiction of the Mother of God with Child / Maria's hymn of praise
  12. Jesus' entry into Jerusalem
  13. The Good Shepherd
  14. Jesus and the Samaritan woman
  15. Rotating pyramid / rotating tower with angels
  16. Rotating pyramid with gold dome
  17. Jesus' baptism / John the Baptist
  18. The Sermon on the Mount
  19. The healing of a blind man near Jericho
  20. Three-part temple pyramid
  21. Depiction of the governor Pontius Pilate
  22. The Lord's Supper
  23. Jesus in Gethsemane
  24. The betrayal of Judas / Jesus' capture
  25. Jesus carrying the cross on the way to Golgotha
  26. Jesus' crucifixion and death
  27. Jesus' resurrection / Easter morning
  28. Jesus on the way to Emmaus / The Emmaus disciples

The ensemble of the Neuwürschnitzer Christmas Mountain includes three pyramids, seven larger buildings and four streets with moving figures. The temple pyramid can be seen as an example of the complex mechanics: The figures on the two levels of the temple pyramid move on opposing running rings, so that the impression of a lively city should arise; the angels on the five bell-shaped points move around their own axis.

  • Mechanics of the Christmas mountain
  • Mechanics of the mechanical Christmas mountain in the Museum of European Cultures 1.jpg
  • Mechanics of the Mechanical Christmas Mountain in the Museum of European Cultures 2.jpg

background

The custom of the Christmas mountains

Christmas mountains are part of the domestic Christmas customs in the Ore Mountains , which had their wedding in the years between the 1870s and 1930s. In particular, "living" Christmas mountains, whose figures are set in motion by a complicated mechanism, attracted more attention. In the valley of the Würschnitz there are still some of these Christmas mountains, some of which can be visited like the mountain of the Christmas Mountain and Carving Association in Niederwürschnitz. Although this is a tradition that is particularly widespread in the Ore Mountains, there are also Christmas and Nativity Mountains in the German-Czech border region, in Upper Lusatia , the Vogtland , in the Bohemian Netherlands , the Jizera Mountains and the bordering Polish and Czech areas. There are also mechanical cribs or cribs with individual movable elements in other European regions such as southern Germany , Tyrol or Spain, but the number of mechanical Christmas mountains in the Ore Mountains is unique. Mechanical puppet theaters run by showmen are another point of reference. The roots of the Erzgebirge Christmas Mountains lie on the one hand in the mechanical mine models that emerged in the 18th century and became more numerous with the decline in mining since the end of the 18th century; on the other hand, they go back to the Christmas cribs , which show the events around the birth of Jesus.

In the last third of the 19th century, the Christmas mountains gained great popularity in the Ore Mountains. Manufacturers offered figures for hobbyists, the mountains were presented to each other, sometimes even publicly, and Christmas mountain clubs were formed. The club mountains represent the last big chapter of this Christmas custom: By the First World War, several hundred, increasingly complex, such club mountains were created, which were presented to the public. In doing so, they followed the technical development of weight and sand drives, clockworks and steam engines to electric motors in order to operate the mechanics. The clubs also organized exhibitions at which private Christmas mountains were shown and in some cases attracted high numbers of visitors. The mountains of clubs began to displace private Christmas mountains. With the First World War, work on the Christmas Mountains came to a standstill; in the 1920s, interest in them began again at a lower level. During National Socialism, its character changed from the oriental Christmas mountain, as is the case with Max Vogel's mountain in the Museum of European Cultures, towards depictions related to the homeland, which were then also referred to as homeland mountains . This ended the great season of the Christmas mountains; in the GDR after the Second World War, the tradition did not revive. As a rule, they could only be viewed in a few museums; and mountains that were still created in carving communities no longer had any religious reference. After reunification , on the one hand antique dealers developed an interest in the Christmas mountains, on the other hand there was a regional revival of this tradition, which, however, is only cultivated by a few interested people and is only of marginal importance as a private tradition.

Origin and creation of the Christmas mountain

History in the Vogel family

Max Vogel began work on his Christmas Mountain in 1885. In a room next to the kitchen and the entrance to the house, it was set up in a U-shape starting from a corner. At the front it was closed off by a small wall, the top was formed by a paper valance . The style was, as was customary for that time, oriental. Vogel's Christmas Mountain consisted of 300 figures, 140 of which were moved by the mechanics. Some of these figures were carved by Vogel himself, others were made by carvers from Loessnitz and the Bohemian town of Králíky . In addition, 110 painted mass figures populated the mountain. Like the mechanics, the moving figures were certainly made by Vogel's hand. When designing his Christmas mountain, Vogel followed the Bible in pictures by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld . The pyramid ensemble, which is probably unique in its size and represents the city of Jerusalem , was a specialty . Vogel probably enlisted the help of a turner to build the pyramids .

Vogel's Christmas Mountain became the largest in town and had an audience from the neighborhood. However, it is not known whether Max Vogel showed his Christmas mountain in an exhibition. He was also not a member of the Christmas Mountain Club in Niederwürschnitz. However, he will have known the club mountain. Max Vogel's Christmas Mountain was last erected in Neuwürschnitz in 1940. A construction attempt in the post-war period failed, which is why the parts of the Christmas mountain were subsequently stored in the attic. Only the temple pyramid was sometimes built during the Christmas season. In 1986 Max Vogel's grandchildren tried to sell the Christmas mountain , which they had never seen in operation, through an advertisement in the weekly mail after no museum had been found that would have wanted to house the mountain.

Reconstruction by Karl-Heinz Fischer

Karl-Heinz Fischer, a Berlin orchestral musician, bought the Christmas mountain in 1987 from the Vogel family after visiting it in the attic in 1986 on a trip to the Ore Mountains. Documentation did not exist. Only two photos from the 1930s, a list of the scenes depicted by Max Vogel and some cardboard labels have survived. At the time of purchase, it was in doubt whether the Christmas mountain could even be reconstructed. The purchase price was 30,000 GDR marks . In addition, Fischer let the Vogels register for the purchase of a Trabant, which was ready for allocation . Fischer had already applied for an exit visa for himself and his family in 1985 . The departure could be completed in June 1989, taking along the Christmas mountain. One reason for the acquisition was the function as a financial investment for a life in the Federal Republic of Germany. From 1987 until departure, the first step was the analysis, cataloging and pre-restoration of the figures, pyramids and buildings. Suitable containers have also been created for the latter.

After the settlement in Herten , the second step was restoration and reconstruction, which lasted from 1990 to 1995. Fischer commissioned the missing figures from the Passion story in 1993 from the Lößnitz carver Johannes Strobelt, who created them as contemporary additions. The completed Christmas mountain comprised 328 figures, 139 of which are movable. His character had changed from the small, compact Vogel mountain to that of the club mountains. Fischer used two Christmas mountains from the Mining Museum for Folk Art in Schneeberg as a model . Fischer's daughter, who painted the buildings and figures, and his son, who worked on the mechanics, were also involved in the restoration. The mechanics as well as the landscape and the background had to be completely recreated. A luminous flux gear motor now served as the drive. The backdrop was created by the Bottrop theater painter Heinz Voss, who based his design on the landscape of Israel. To keep the Christmas mountain transportable, Fischer divided it into six segments two meters long and 1.2 meters deep, which carried the buildings and figures as well as the landscape.

In November 1992, the Christmas mountain was shown for the first time at an exhibition in Marl town hall . Due to the great interest of visitors, this presentation was repeated in 1993. In 1994 the Christmas Mountain was exhibited in Herten, Schneeberg's twin town. In 1995 the reconstruction came to an end with the installation on permanent loan in the Lower Rhine Museum for Folklore and Cultural History in Kevelaer . Since the mountain could only be transported and erected under great circumstances, Fischer tried to find a museum that would accommodate him permanently. In addition to museums in Saxony and Bavaria, he also contacted the Museum of Folklore in Berlin.

Acquisition and exhibition by the Museum of European Cultures

When Fischer offered the Christmas Mountain to the Museum of Folklore in Berlin in 1997, its director Erika Karasek obtained an expert opinion from Manfred Bachmann . The director of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden was an expert on Saxon folk art. According to his positive assessment, the purchase could be realized in 1999 with the funds of a legacy. Max Vogel's Christmas Mountain has been on view in the museum's permanent exhibition since 1999: in the old exhibition building at Im Winkel 6/8 until 2005, and then in the Bruno-Paul-Bau at Arnimallee 25 in the Museum Center Berlin-Dahlem since 2011 . For the installation there, major renovations were necessary, which were carried out by the museum restorers in collaboration with the BHBVT architectural office . Due to the spatial situation, the Christmas mountain had to be shortened by 30 centimeters.

With the Vogels Christmas Mountain, the Museum of European Cultures has a total of four Christmas mountains. The other three mountains in the collection are an example with a clockwork drive that was made before the First World War, a mountain from the last third of the 19th century that the family brought to Upper Lusatia, and a Winterberg created in 1951 that houses the Seiffen Church shows. The latter two come from Gertrud Weinhold's collection .

literature

  • Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains in the Museum of European Cultures - National Museums in Berlin. (= Writings of the Friends of the Museum of European Cultures. Issue 14). Verlag der Kunst, Husum 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 .
  • Tina Peschel: Christmas mountains from the Saxon Ore Mountains. In: Elisabeth Tietmeyer, Irene Ziehe (eds.): Cultural contacts. Life in Europe. Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 2011, ISBN 978-3-7338-0382-7 , pp. 96-105.

Web links

Commons : Mechanical Christmas Mountain (Museum of European Cultures)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Database entry on smb-digital.de.
  2. ↑ a b c Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains in the Museum of European Cultures - State Museums in Berlin. (= Writings of the Friends of the Museum of European Cultures. Issue 14). Verlag der Kunst, Husum 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , p. 40.
  3. ↑ a b Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , p. 27.
  4. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , pp. 5-7.
  5. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , pp. 7–8.
  6. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , pp. 13-16.
  7. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , pp. 18 and 19.
  8. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , p. 23.
  9. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , p. 24.
  10. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , p. 25.
  11. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , pp. 16 and 24.
  12. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , p. 29.
  13. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , pp. 30 and 31.
  14. ↑ Tina Peschel, Christmas Mountains from the Saxon Ore Mountains. In: Elisabeth Tietmeyer, Irene Ziehe (eds.): Cultural contacts. Life in Europe. Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 2011, ISBN 978-3-7338-0382-7 , pp. 96-105, 102 and 103.
  15. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , pp. 33 and 36.
  16. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , p. 39.
  17. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , p. 21.
  18. ↑ Tina Peschel: A mechanical Christmas mountain from the Ore Mountains ... 2015, ISBN 978-3-86530-207-6 , p. 41.