Carollers

Paying a visit to Seiffen on an Advent Sunday, one can see the carolers with their lanterns and bright stars walking from house to house. They wish the residents a merry Christmas. The German word Kurrende (carolers) goes back to the Latin currere (walk). Kurrende, originally, used to be a walking boy choir. The choirs were looked after by the church, boys of 10 to 14 years old being the members. Today, girls can also be members.

Since 1535 when the Seiffen region became Protestant, their typical dress has been a simple cape and a round hat. In the middle of the 1930s, the Seiffen toy-maker Max Schanz created a group of figurines which is supposed to be the origin of the wooden carolers. It has served many other Erzgebirge craftsmen as a pattern. It consists of four carolers with books in their hands, one child carrying a star, two carved little trees and three houses of very thin wood with saddle roofs, one of them showing ridge turrets to indicate a village church. Nowadays, the ensemble mostly includes the well-known Seiffen church. Exclusive to Müller, other typical buildings such as the Town Hall and the Old School have been added. This is complemented by two lanterns which can be found everywhere in the centre of Seiffen. Their glass bodies show colourful pictures telling about the most pleasant time in the Village of Toy-Making: Christmas.