The Ulbricht Shepherd Nutcracker stands almost 9 inches tall and is hand-painted and carved in Germany. He wears green pants, brown jacket and is topped with a green hat. Holding his hooked staff, he is prepared to keep his sheep together. Brightly painted in long lasting colors, he is a great addition to any collection!
Product Details
- Stands almost 9 inches tall
- Holds a staff with a curved hook on the end to keep his sheep together
- The Ulbricht tradition has been passed down for 300 years
- Painstakingly hand-painted so no two are exactly alike
- Hand-crafted in Germany
- Techniques have been handed down over many generations
Standing almost 9 inches tall, the Ulbricht Shepherd is a delightful piece! Holding a hooked staff in his hand, he is ready to do his job. He wears simple brown jacket, green pants and is topped with a matching green hat. Hand-crafted from solid wood in Germany, this nutcracker is a collector's dream.
An Ulbricht family tradition
Large deposits of silver not only gave the mountain range its name, but also supplied generations of mountain folk with their daily bread. All Ulbricht ancestors were miners - but when the ore supplies started to dwindle those living and working there had to come up with new sources of income. And so the one-time miners first turned their hand to carving and wood turning and then to running businesses.
In 1928 the time had finally come - Christian Ulbricht's father founded the company "Otto Ulbricht-Werksttten fr feine Holzarbeiten und Spielwaren (which translated would be the "Otto Ulbricht workshops for fine woodcraft and toys") in Seiffen. He used his entrepreneurial skill to blend innovative and traditional elements into something unique and the reward for this was a gold medal at the 1936 Great Exhibition in Paris for his designs of nursery clocks and a group of travelling singers (Kurrende choir).
The Second World War and the ensuing dispossession by the communist powers-that-be in East Germany brought an end to the Seiffen-based company. Otto Ulbricht had to flee to the west with his family. He soon set up the company again in Lauingen at the Danube which has been run by his son Christian Ulbricht since 1968.
After the reunification of Germany, Christian Ulbricht was able to buy back his father's company in Seiffen, so that wood could be crafted with love in his old and his new home.
Now in its third generation, the Ulbricht family continues to produce wood-turned products of the finest quality. In addition to an extensive line of nutcrackers, there are incense burners, music boxes, figurines, pyramids, and ornaments geared for Christmas and Easter.
Traditions are very important to Ulbricht. Not only those that strengthen ties to the land and to family, but also those that continue the traditions of excellence in production that date back 300 years.
