A group of visitors to Johanngeorgenstadt in Saxony, Germany, is taking pictures of a huge decorative structure in the town center, zooming in on the various figures depicted under a big metal arch.
It’s in the middle of the day, but it’s easy to work out that when the night sets in and the candle light bulbs on top of the structure are lit, they will make the snow on the ground appear warm.
There’s not so much that this town is known for. It’s a stone’s throw away from the Czech Republic. Yes, it’s a traditional winter sports resort in eastern Germany, but above all it prides itself on being the place where the Erzgebirge’s arched candle holders — known in German as Schwibbogen — originated from. And just to remind everyone of that point, Johanngeorgenstadt is home to the biggest freestanding example in the world.
The visitors gathering around it on this frosty December day seem truly impressed. After all, the structure is 25 meters (82 feet) wide and 14.5 meters tall. The huge arch holds a set of electric candle lights which, when lit, illuminate various mining-related figures standing beneath the arch.
“I’ve been here before,” says a man, but every time I come here it seems to me that the candle holder has become even taller.” His female companion agrees. “It makes you feel so small if you stand right next to it,” she says. “It’s no doubt impressive given its size, but it’s probably not the most beautiful one I know,” she adds.
Arched candle holders come in many different shapes and sizes as seen here in a store in Oberwiesenthal, Germany
A deep-rooted tradition
Although the number of tourists here has gone down drastically again as the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll on the hospitality sector, Germans’ passion for arched candle holders remains intact.
For nearly everyone in the Erzgebirge region and for so many beyond it, they constitute a must-have Christmas decoration that is usually placed on a windowsill in people’s homes — to the delight of passers-by.
“Arched candle holders characterize the image of the Erzgebirge region like none of our other products,” the head of the regional Association of Artisans and Toymakers, Frederic Günther, told DW.
“Everyone can see them in the windows, you don’t have to go anywhere inside to notice them. And it’s fair to say that the arched candle holders are ambassadors of our region and our products.”
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas in the Erzgebirge without the arched candle holders in people’s windows
Ongoing debate over origin
But where did they really come from, and since when have they been in the region? Tom Pote, a hobby woodcarver from Johanngeorgenstadt, who takes a keen interest in the history of his town, has one hypothesis.
“The first arched candle holder was made in 1740 here in Johanngeorgenstadt by a blacksmith by the name of Johann Teller,” he told DW. “It was his way of saying ‘thank you’ to the miners he’d been working for. Ever since, such candle holder have been made in this town.”
It’s interesting to note that the debate about what exactly inspired the shape of the arched candle holders is also far from over.
The town of Gelenau in the Erzgebirge boasts the world’s largest arched candle holder attached to a building
“If you ask around what the original arched candle holders were meant to symbolize, some 80% of people will say the arch was modeled on the entrance of a mining tunnel,” Pote said. “But it doesn’t really look like it as a mining tunnel entrance has a different shape on both sides.”
Pote believes that the shape of the candle holders was modeled on the arches featuring in Johanngeorgenstadt’s old church that was later gutted in a big fire. The maker of the 1740 candle holder no doubt went to that church and must have felt inspired by the arches in there, Pote insists.
Igor Jenzen from the Museum of Saxon Folk Art in Dresden recently added yet another version of how the arched candle holder may have come into being. He points to 1719 when Elector Frederick Augustus, the son of Augustus the Strong, married the Austrian emperor’s daughter, Maria Josepha, in Dresden. In a festive event lasting several weeks, many people, including miners from the Erzgebirge region, were treated to the sight of operas, masquerades and all the other trappings of a late baroque festival. There, they also spotted edifices put up for a big parade featuring arches that — as Jenzen claims — could have served as a blueprint for the candle holders.
Double-sided arched candle holders as shown in the picture give the structures a 3D look
Metal vs. wood
While no one will ever know for sure which version is right, the fact is that for centuries these Christmas decorations were made of metal.
“Only in the 1940s did they start making arched candle holders of wood, and with it came a multitude of different motifs and scenes,” said Pote. “They sell better because they’re usually less expensive, but both the wooden and premium steel versions exist side by side. The carved items look better on the windowsill, while the premium steel candle holders are better outside as they do not rust.”
There are many woodcarving decorations from the Erzgebirge that have been selling like hot cakes in foreign countries, too, among them the wooden nutcrackers and incense smoking figurines. With arched candle holders, it’s a bit different though.
“Arched candle holders are mainly produced for the German market,” Frederic Günther from the Association of Artisans and Toymakers pointed out.
“As far as the overseas market is concerned, there are some technical issues to consider with regard to different line voltage parameters in Germany and the US for instance, so not every model is available for both markets.”
He adds that potential buyers from the US who visit the region have to be alerted that they also need different light bulbs for the candle holders.
The pandemic influenced the business of local producers and retailers — 2021 is not much different
Pandemic fallout
Domestic demand is being watched closely by both producers and retailers during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Producers with strong collectors’ items are doing good business online and are hardly affected by the coronavirus-caused restrictions. But for retailers with brick-and-mortar stores, the ongoing pandemic is a huge problem as tourists stay away,” Günther said.
“And let’s not forget that most Christmas markets were canceled at short notice this year. Many traders had already put up their stands only to find that the markets would not be allowed to go ahead, and no one is reimbursing them for their losses.”
Edited by: T. Rooks
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