Saturday, August 15, 2015

Hansel and Gretel Weather Houses

Check out these Hansel and Gretel German Weather Houses. These traditional houses are sensitive to changes in humidity; either the man or the woman will "come outside" and one of them means rain, another means it should be a clear day. This one has both the man and woman, as well as the fairy tale characters, which doesn't make as much sense story-wise; there are others below that only have Hansel, Gretel, and the witch.



(Is that a witch, or a clown?)


Another Vintage Toggili Hansel and Gretel House (already sold, so no link except to the image)













8 comments:

  1. Bizarre! I'm suspecting that some, at least, are made as souvenirs for tourists. ;-)

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    1. I was under the impression that these weather houses, like cuckoo clocks, were once fairly standard household items in Germany. (They would certainly have been very helpful before the times of online or television weather forecasts!) All of these are older antiques, although I think I've seen some for sale at Chicago's German Christmas Market, although probably not the Hansel and Gretel versions. So yes, I think there is still a market for them for tourists/people who want to add a little German culture to their homes :)

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    2. Would be careful with the term "German" or "Germany" in regards to older traditions. Most things perceived as "typically German", including weather houses and cuckoo clocks originated in southern Germany and arenot tied to the culture of northern Germany.

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    3. I had no idea! What would be the best term to use then, Southern German? Or maybe the region? I think the Cuckoo Clock booth at the Christmas Market is from the Black Forest

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  2. These are so cute and whimsical!! X

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  3. I find it odd that people find these bizarre. Surely, they are creative. Now, whether or not these were made for tourists or were made for the average household, I probably wouldn't be able to tell unless obvious(such as type of nails and even presence of nails). There are places that were settled by certain Germanic cultures in America that made these, and still make these. If it is not for tourists you can expect a very high quality of item. NOT something you are going to find mass-produced. I really love the imagination with which the S. Germans produced things. They really don't mind being their own people. Which is rather refreshing. There is a difference in culture in the different parts of German but especially between the N. and S. In fact, so much that when they immigrated to America they earned nicknames. The North being "Unhappy Germans" and the Southerners being "Happy Germans". That was still spoken of when I was growing up. I can tell you EXACTLY which part of my family was which ;).

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  4. My mom was giving one by my uncle who served war 2 he brought it back from france.when he was fighting in war 2 we were wondering how much it may be worth. She don't want to sell it. Just curious

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    1. Sadly I'm not any help to you with how much these are worth...maybe look on Ebay for similar items and see how much they go for?

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