Moving Piety

"Kastenkrippen" (cabinet nativities) are nativity sets in which the scene of Christ's birth is arranged in a glass box, where each figure has been assigned a fixed, unchangeable place by the artist. This special form of nativity scene was produced not only in the Alpine region, but also in the  mountain regions, for example in the , and in the regions of and the . This model, dating from the first half of the 19th century is an outstanding example of this very special type of nativity scene made in the mountainous regions of Silesia due to its richness of detail and the high level of craftsmanship.
 
However, the Waldenburg nativity scene is interesting not only because of its region-specific character, but above all because of its very exciting and, fortunately, well-documented fate. The piece has an extraordinary migration history, during which it traveled twice across the "big pond" and, after almost 80 years, returned to Germany. "According to my information," wrote the owner, who ended up living in the USA, when he donated the nativity set to HAUS SCHLESIEN, "it originally came from Waldenburg, a small town located in the hilly countryside 80 km southwest of . The farmers and forest workers in this area needed extra income during the winter months, and some of the skilled woodcarvers specialized in making nativity sets. [...] Among the fondest memories of my childhood were the Christmas celebrations. The whole family would come together on our estate, which was located near the Zobtenberg, the holy mountain of the Silesians. The center of this tradition was always our Waldenburg nativity set, which had pride of place at the foot of a large Christmas tree. For the rest of the year, it was kept, carefully packed, in a large storeroom next to my parents' bedroom. […]" 
 
The donor's family emigrated to the USA in 1935, when the first "clouds of smoke on the horizon signalling war" began to appear. The nativity set was so important to the family that it traveled with them in their luggage to Chicago, from where it later made its way to Los Angeles:

And so, in 2012, the nativity set was shipped across the Atlantic from the USA and, after overcoming the rather complicated customs formalities, arrived at HAUS SCHLESIEN, where it has since enriched the collection and been an attractive eye-catcher in the annual nativity scene exhibition. Four years ago, it even returned to its "hometown" of Wroclaw for a few weeks, where it was on display in a special exhibition of the City Museum.