Please Note: The brewery label and color on the keg may vary from what is pictured.
German Smoker Manufacturer: Dregano of Seiffen, Germany
Country of Origin: Germany
German Smoker Type: Braumeister standing carting a keg of German beer.
German Smoker Dimensions: 8 inches high
Detailed Description: This
German smoker comes from the renowned studio of Dregano in Seiffen,
Germany. This unique piece of German folk art is hand assembled and
stained in Germany by skilled trades people. This German smoker is a
Braumeister carting a keg of German beer.
About German Smokers, Smoking Men or Erzgebirge Smokers:German
Smokers, or smoking men, and the smell of incense cones belong to the
Erzgebirgian Christmas just like the German nutcracker. An important
component in the development for the German Smokers was the use of
Frankincense (Weihrauch) in the Christmas tradition/ Frankincense was
next to gold and Myrrh one of the three presents the three holy kings
brought to the Baby Jesus.
It is estimated that the
production of smoking cones, now used in German Smokers, started around
1750 in the village of Crottendorf in the Erzgebirge. The
Heilig-Ohmd-Lied accounts of the usage of smoking cones around 1830,
although the cones were not yet placed inside of a figurine but burned
on a small tray.
Throughout the Nineteenth, public smoking was a widespread habit that
made the sight of a man with a pipe in his mouth a common one. This is
believed to have been the inspiration for the creation of the first
German smoker.The origins of German Smokers believed to date back to
1856/57 in Heidelberg - which today is a part of the town of Seiffen.
The German Smokers, or smoking men, were made the same way as the
nutcrackers, although German Smokers consists of two parts that are put
on top of each other. On the lower part the smoking cone is placed on a
little tin circle, the upper part works as the smoking kettle.
Unlike
the nutcrackers, that traditionally represent officers and other
officials, the German craftsmen chose everyday people as models for
their German smokers. Favorites themes for German Smokers are miners,
shepherds, chimney sweepers and other traditional German occupations.