Bavarian Christmas tradition: A hand-made nativity scene

This is one of the most popular Bavarian holiday traditions: the Christmas nativity scene. A lot of families put up a crib every year. Very often they are self-made, bequeathed and grow larger in time. Let me show you a masterpiece in detail.

It’s designed as a typical alpine crib. The holy family, the maids and menials are all dressed like Bavarian peasants and craftsmen from the 18th century. Just the three wise men appear in historic attire.

And look at the building. It’s more like an ancient farm house than just a barn. The details are so lovely. There’s firewood and a chopping block, there’s warm light behind the windows.

And one can even see a table in the snuggery.

Next to a donkey and an ox, as described in the bible, there are also a dog and several sheep arranged around the manger. This is reminiscent of Saint Franciscus, the inventor of the first crib in 1220. He's said to have had the ability to speak to animals.

Not to forget all those angels in and around the building. One could call it sickly sweet and naïve, but I think that this diorama is just lovely. I’m not religious, but I do appreciate the craftsmanship, the creativity and the mood induced.

The figurines are made of wood. There’s a great tradition of woodcarving in Bavaria and other parts of Germany.

You can find a lot of shops full of such masterpieces. This one is in Bad Tölz. One hand-carved and hand-painted piece can easily cost 100 Euro.

This crib was built by Franz Kisters, and it took him 100 hours of work. The figurines were carved by the Bavarian company Kreutz.

All photos by me.