Straw star
A straw star is a star-shaped decorative element made from straw . It is mainly used during the Christmas season .
history
According to a legend, a young shepherdess wondered what to give to the newborn baby Jesus . As she sat on a sack of straw under the starry sky and saw the star of Bethlehem above her, she had the idea of making the star out of straw.
At the end of the 19th century, the straw industry developed a winter alternative to the straw hat popular in summer . Various decorative elements were made from straw scraps, of which the straw star was the most popular. The straw strips were made with the help of a straw splitter .
To this day, the straw star has symbolic meaning. It creates a connection from the manger in which the baby Jesus was lying to the star of Bethlehem. It is also an important medium for destitute people who want to make their loved ones happy for Christmas despite limited resources . The production took place mainly as a pastime in the cold season. Even in the Middle Ages, straw was a commodity that was available to everyone.
For craft straw, stalks with long sections between the growth nodes are required. Since the grain in Germany is grown with short stems and is therefore less susceptible to wind breakage, straw stars are now mainly produced in China and exported cheaply from there. For the domestic homeworkers who mainly work in East Germany, this means the end of the decades of important additional income.
use
Straw stars are usually hung on windows or Christmas trees . However, they are also used as decorations on Christmas bouquets and Advent wreaths . In addition, straw stars have long been popular handicraft objects and are also often given away.
Creation
What you need:
Straw, i.e. stalks of grain, a pair of scissors and a thread
Prepare the straws: soak in lukewarm water, slit and then iron flat until the straws are golden to brown
Select stalks for the star and cut them to the same length and width
The stalks are placed crosswise. The resulting crosses are now placed on top of each other in an offset manner.
The loosely folded stalks are fixed with a thread by pulling it alternately over and under the stalks and then carefully tightening and knotting.
Finally, the stalks are beveled or cut to a point as desired. There are no rules here.
Straw stars can be individually designed with different colors, lengths and widths of the stalks.
literature
- Hildegard Grübel: Straw stars . 2nd Edition. Ravensburger Buchverlag , 1992, ISBN 978-3-473-45676-5 .
- Caroline Hoffmann, Kathrin Clausing, Uwe Eberhard Schotte: Festive straw stars .
- Maria-Regina Altmeyer, Michael Altmeyer: Beautiful straw stars . 1st edition. Christophorus-Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-419-56854-5 .
- Elisabeth Eder: Stars naturally beautiful: Made of straw and chip . 1st edition. Frech, 2008, ISBN 978-3-7724-3718-2 .
- Liselotte Fischer: From Strohstern to empirical educational deformation .
- Mattis Sauerbier: The Philosophy of Christmas Decorations .
- Rolf Dietz: Straw stars like snow crystals Booklet 1 Stars from the 12-sheet form step by step . 5th edition. Dietz, 2007, ISBN 3-934059-01-5 .
- Rolf Dietz: Straw stars like snow crystals Booklet 2 stars from the universal laying form step by step . 1st edition. Dietz, 1987, ISBN 3-934059-02-3 .
- Rolf Dietz: Straw stars like snow crystals Booklet of 5 stars from the 8-way shape step by step . 1st edition. Dietz, 2000, ISBN 3-934059-05-8 .
Web links
- Article "Straw stars have covered my fate" , Kleinbauern.ch
- Article “The fire engine and the invention of the straw star” , Münsterländische Volkszeitung
Individual evidence
- ↑ “straw-in-form” interest group: history ( Memento of the original from May 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ www.brauchumsseiten.de: Everything about straw stars
- ↑ Susanne Rost: Customs: Straw stars - the poor man's Christmas decorations . In: Berliner Zeitung . ( berliner-zeitung.de [accessed on October 16, 2016]).
