"WOODEN ART WITH HEART" SINCE 1899 FROM THE MUELLER WORKSHOPS

Welcome to the family-run Müller workshop in Seiffen. Following the tradition of the region, Erzgebirge wooden folklore has been manufactured here for more than 115 years. The present members of the family, take pride in continuing what their great-grandfather Edmund Oswald Müller started in 1899. He offered a very wide range of products. The toys available from his workshop included doll’s house furniture made to the fashion of those days as well as the famous Seiffen match-box miniatures. In 1943, his son Paul took over, developing the workshop in his father’s spirit. His products of natural wood found worldwide recognition. At the end of the fifties, the wide assortment of articles on offer was enlarged by the first Müller Pyramids. From 1973 to 2000, Gunter Müller was in charge of the workshop. He saw to Müller design becoming easily noticeable with all our products. Müller Music Boxes, Pyramids, delicate Miniatures and diversified Candle Arches have added much to Seiffen’s fame as the Village of Toy-Making. Ringo Müller, the current owner and manager, represents the fourth generation of the family since our workshop was founded. To qualify as a master craftsman, he created Seiffen Village, the first big Candle Arch fully illuminated inside. It is outstanding developments like this that keep our long tradition alive.

Original Erzgebirge wood art like:

Pyramids

When you hear the word “pyramid”, most people think of the Egyptian pyramids first. Obviously, the pyramids from the Erzgebirge are different because parts of them can move. The hot air rising from the candles, or the synchronous motor, in case of a pyramid with electric candles, causes the fans and therefore the tiers to turn. And with the tiers, sets of lathe-turned or carved figurines turn quietly while the candles give a warm light.

Candle arches

The candle arch has been part of the Erzgebirge Christmas as a festival of lights for more than 250 years. The first candle arch was made by blacksmith Johann Teller in Johanngeorgenstadt as a wrought-iron work in 1726. The form of the arch goes back to the Erzgebirge mining tradition.

Smoking men

The first smokers depicted Turks as well as chimney sweeps, postmen, miners, forest workers and travelling merchants from Bohemia who sold and repaired household items. We introduced the first of our smoking men in 1990, and since 2004, smoking men have become a permanent part of our growing range of products. You can find many types of smokers (men and women) with ball-shaped bellies in various sizes with intricate details.

Nutcracker

As early as the middle of the 18th century, nutbitters were known in the Erzgebirge town of Schneeberg. Such a sturdy wooden fellow showed a thick head and a lever at its bach by which one could operate its lower jaw so as to crack a nut in its mouth. E.T.A. Hoffmann made this folklore figurine immortal in his charming fairy tale of the Nutcracker and the King of Mice.

Electronic Music boxes

Enjoy the new generation of our electronic music boxes and listen to German Christmas carols. In association with Rolf Zuckowski, a German children singer-songwriter, and scientists of the TU Chemnitz we have developed a new kind of our popular electronic music box. The song “In der Weihnachtsbäckerei” - At the Christmas bakery - from Rolf Zuckowski was mentor for the motif platform. On top of the motif platform you can see three affectionate designed children, which are baking Christmas cookies like the songs describes. These lovely figurines are made of certified wood.

Angel and Miners

The miner with the candle is one of the oldest traditional Erzgebirge figurines and has become increasingly famous with the discovery of stearin as wax for candles in the 1850s. Light was not only a symbol of life for the miners, it was life itself in the darkness of the mine during long days of hard work. The figurine of the miner was soon joined by an angel to complete the pair. The Erzgebirge angel combines the tradition of the golden Nuremberg Christmas angel and the simple lathe-turned Erzgebirge dolls. It got its typical shape with waist and neckline during the Biedermeier period in the 19th century.

Motifs around the world

Erzgebirge wooden art and handicraft are world-famous and bring pleasure to every continent. A strong argument in favor of making nutcrackers and wooden figures in quite new garments and in the architecture of regions other than the Erzgebirge. Discover the Scotsman with his bagpipes, the Arab with his camel and many other jewels – dedicated to the sheer variety of our wonderful world.

Easter articles und Year-round figurines

Welcome to a dream world, an enchanting realm of hares and bears. In the roles and poses of humans, they remind us of our childhood, of the land of dreams and fairytales. From the hitchhiker to the painter, from the dad with a child to the married couple: all the inhabitants of hare and bear country are very much suitable to be combined with our electronic music boxes.

Carolers

During a visit to Seiffen on a Sunday in advent, you can see the carolers going from one house to the next with a shining star. In German, the church’s children’s choir is called “Kurrende”. That goes back to the Latin word for walking – currere. “Kurrende” was originally a choir of boys who also carried messages and therefore walked through the village. Today, girls are also part of the choir.

Promotional articles

To advertise your products, just take advantage of our expertise in designing and manufacturing traditional Erzgebirge wooden articles. Designed and elaborately made to your order, these articles of long-lasting value will certainly catch your customers’ eyes.

Environmental responsibility

We make our active contribution to environmental protection with conscious handling of all resources. We purchase our raw material from sustainable forestry of certified partners (FSC and PEFC), which are subjected to a constant supplier assessment. Waste wood is continued to use for the production of heat. All of our article-, transport- and shipping boxes made from corrugated cardboard are certified by the manufacturer and own the RESY sign as a certificate. All other packing materials are decontaminated properly by our disposal partner in the Duales System Germany and are licensed accordingly.