German Christmas Pyramid (Weihnachtspyramide)

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
A Christmas Decoration from the Ore Mountains in Saxony

Germany’s Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) region in Saxony (Sachsen) is well-known as the source of several popular German Christmas decorative items, ranging from glass ornaments to the Christmas pyramid. The German Christmas pyramid (Weihnachtspyramide) was first developed as a low-cost substitute for a real Christmas tree in the late 1700s.

A traditional pyramid is made of wood and typically has from one to five levels (Etagen). A candle-powered windmill-like rotor fan at the top of the “pyramid” makes the carousel-like platforms – with carved figures – revolve and also ring bell chimes. The older German word Drehturm (revolving tower) is actually more descriptive. Depending on how elaborate or plain they are, Christmas pyramids today range in price from 15 to 300 euros or more. From the Erzgebirge region (also famous for nutcrackers), the Christmas pyramid soon spread to other parts of Germany and around the world.

Modern Christmas pyramid

A modern single-level Christmas pyramid with a manger scene and four tea lamps. PHOTO: Richard Huber (Wikimedia Commons)

Beginning in the 1930s, a few large Christmas pyramid reproductions could be seen on display at Christmas markets in the Erzgebirge. By the 1950s there were still only about ten or so of these large-format displays in Germany, but today they are much more common. Many Christmas markets all across Germany now feature a large replica of a Christmas pyramid, some standing as high as 30 feet (9 meters) or more. Since 2014, Hanover has laid claim to Germany’s tallest replica, a 60-foot (18-meter) Christmas tower that people can even climb through.

Some claim that the name “Christmas pyramid” (Weihnachtspyramide) came about because the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt at the end of the 18th century brought pictures of the pyramids to Europe and eventually to the Ore Mountains, where they reminded the people of the mining capstans used in the region, and also of the old wooden Christmas towers.

A more likely explanation is that the term “pyramid” (Peremett in dialect) was first used in a 1716 chronicle to describe the “pyramids of light” – candle-illuminated pyramid constructions – set up for Christmas inside the St. Wolfgang church in Schneeberg (Saxony). From these simple pyramid-shaped stacks of lighted decorations, the term came to be used for the more elaborate carved wooden Christmas pyramids we see today.

Der Schwibbogen: A similar German decoration from the same region is The German Christmas Candle Arch (Schwibbogen).

Der Drehbaum

A similar wooden candle-powered revolving tree known as a Drehbaum is found in the Spreewald region about 60 miles (100km) southeast of Berlin. Until recently the 18th century Sorbian custom had died out. A few years ago Dieter Dzíumbla from the small town of Burg decided to revive the Drehbaum custom for Advent.

Known as a Weihnachtsdrehboom in the local dialect, the so-called “Sorbian Christmas tree” in the Spreewald (Spree Forest) is a mixture of the wooden Christmas pyramid and a real tree. Almost unknown today, like the Christmas pyramid, the Drehbaum also spins, but unlike the pyramid version, the candles on a Drehbaum are mounted on the round platforms and rotate along with them, rather than remaining stationary. A “Drehbaum” is also larger than a typical Christmas pyramid.

Outdoor Christmas pyramid in Heidelberg

A large outdoor Christmas pyramid at a Christmas market in Heidelberg. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons

Since pine trees (Tannenbäume) do not grow in the swampy Spreewald lowlands, the locals built a substitute using strips made from willow trees. (Since 1991, the watery forest region has been a protected UNESCO biosphere reserve.) It wasn’t until 1910 that a Prussian order encouraged the importation of traditional Christmas trees in the region.

Dzíumbla rediscovered the lost custom by chance and did some research in old books on how the Drehbaum was made. After some time and effort, Dieter was able to recreate a Drehboom that worked, spinning on its broom-handle axle, with a large wooden windmill at the top. He made the platforms and framing out of plywood, rather than the traditional willow strips in basket-weaving style. He and his wife Christa run the Kolonie-Schänke, a small inn in Burg, which during the Christmas season features Dieter’s three-level, one-meter-tall, cone-shaped “Drehbaum” rather than a Christmas tree. Christa decorates each level with Christmas items and dolls dressed in traditional Spreewald costumes (Spreewaldtrachten). Since they are also lace-makers, the couple also use lacework (Spitzenstickerei, Spitzenarbeit) to decorate their Drehbaum.

More | Christmas from A to Z

Related Pages
AT THE GERMAN WAY

ON THE WEB

Legal Notice: We are not responsible for the content of external links.

0 Comments