Where does the tradition of the wooden Christmas crib come from?
The basis for this historical narrative of the Christmas crib was laid by the two evangelists St. Luke and St. Matthew. The tales of the two do not always agree in their details. The story of the nativity scene as we know it today is a combination of the two stories of the two evangelists.
This tradition goes back a long way to early Christianity. At that time, only the infant Jesus with ox and donkey was initially set up. It was not until some time later that St. Mary and St. Joseph were added as carved nativity figures. In the course of time, new characters came up, the three kings, added..
There are now countless different versions of nativity figures. Artists all over the world are inspired by this event and create nativity scenes from a wide variety of materials and sizes. However, wood has become the most established raw material for the production of nativity figures. In our online shop for wood carvings from South Tyrol you can buy a large selection of different nativity figures.
For our carved nativity figurines we mainly use high-quality woods such as: local sycamore wood, Swiss stone pine or ash wood. Since wood is a raw material of nature, it has always had a special attraction for people. Anyone who has held wooden crib figures in their hands immediately feels a touch of warmth.
Together with the artistic handicraft, be it the carving or the high-quality, elaborate painting with oil paints, wooden crib figures are something very Special.
But which nativity figurines belong to a nativity scene?
The most important figures in a nativity scene are St. Joseph, St. Mary and the baby Jesus, who, as the story of the nativity scene tells, was born in a manger in Bethlehem.
There the baby Jesus was placed by Mary in a cradle made of straw.
The baby Jesus thus represents the center of the entire nativity scene. All other nativity figures are usually set up in such a way that their gaze points exactly to the baby Jesus, the promising Messiah.
The ox and the donkey are two other important components of the wood nativity scene. According to the historical story, these should already have been in the feed manger. Immediately after the baby Jesus was born, they should have laid down close to the cradle to warm the child.
Who built the first nativity scene?
It is believed that Francis of Assisi was one of the first to try to recreate the events of Christmas. He wanted to show people under what difficult conditions the Son of God was born. In the gospel there was no mention of Mary and Joseph being poor people, but based on the stories that Jesus Christ was born in a stable, it was assumed that the two did not belong to the upper middle class.
The nativity scene of Francis of Assisi is said to have taken place in the mountains of Umbria. Francis of Assisi is said to have found a cave there in a small village that immediately inspired him to recreate the story of the birth of Jesus there.
The baby Jesus was represented as a doll in a cradle. Mary, Joseph, the three kings and shepherds were to be played by the residents of the surrounding villages.
Holy Mass is still celebrated there today to commemorate the events of St. Francis of Assisi.