Famous Wood Chip Christmas Tree of the Ore Mountains Erzgebirge

This craftsman uses mostly his feel for the wood to create these incredible Span Trees (Spanbaum) in the Seiffener Volkskunst Studio in the Erzgebirge Region of Germany.

Like many of the items Gingerbread World imports from Germany these beautiful trees go by many names. I wonder if that's because so many of the items we import have been made in Germany in the traditional way for centuries...over hundreds of years they just come to be known by all sorts of names. Span Trees are also called Spanbaum, chip trees, splinter trees, shaved wooden trees, twilled trees or curled trees.

Using a method developed in the 1930's, the trees are hand carved from linden wood, curl-by-curl, layer-by-layer. The craftsman hand cuts hundreds of precisely curled “branches” made with only a chisel. Trees come in many sizes from a tiny 5 cm to a towering 1 meter high.

Gingerbread World does not stock these trees but we would be happy to special order them for you from our friends at Seiffener Volkskunst. Where you will find them in our shop is on the Choir of Carolers Pyramid. Plus we've just added new for 2018 Santa with Spanbaum Pyramid from Richard Glässer and Deer with Spanbaum Pyramid.

I am excited to be travelling to the Erzgebirge Region on Germany this summer to visit the studios where the wooden ornaments, Nativities and Pyramids are made.

Follow along with me on social media - Facebook or Instagram - as my daughter and I travel to Seiffen in in the state of Saxony in the area known as the Ore Mountains.

Cheers!

Tamara
Owner @ Gingerbread World