German Incense Smokers

German incense smoker ornaments from reputed manufacturing houses in Germany are some of the most appreciated gifts and souvenirs for friends and loved ones, especially during Christmas. The little wooden smoker figurines never fail to brighten up surroundings with their colorful and charming looks, and continue to play important roles as incense holders in Christian celebrations like Epiphany. The demand for authentic wooden German incense burners is on the rise as more and more discerning customers seek them out for their excellent workmanship and design as well as for their ability to produce the most wonderful fragrances in living spaces.

German Incense Smoker

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What are German Incense Smokers?

German Incense Smokers

A German smoker is a wooden handcrafted miniature figurine that serves as an incense burner or as a decorative ornament.
The German name for these popular, eye-catching ornaments is ‘Räuchermänner’ which literally means ‘Smoking Men’, and they were primarily used to commemorate the precious gifts of incense that the Wise Men brought Jesus when He was born. The tradition continues to this day in Germany during the Festivity of the Three Wise Men which is also referred to as Epiphany. On this day, people light incense in German smokers in honor of this important and cherished religious celebration, and thereby mark the final day of the Christmas season.

How did German Smokers Become Famous?

German Smokers

All credit goes to the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the mining community in the Erzgebirge Mountains of Germany who, in the late 1600s, began designing and crafting toys as a side-business. The first models were made from dough and paper mache but they later began utilizing wood sourced from the mountain forests. As the mining industry gradually deteriorated, the workers wisely invested more time and skill into producing handmade toys and keepsakes like smoker ornaments and nutcrackers. The uniqueness and quality of their products earned Erzgebirge Mountains the honor of being regarded as the center of the wood-making industry in all of Europe. Little smoker dolls began finding their way throughout Europe and into the US, where they soon captured the attention of young and old alike with their bright and whimsical looks, functionality, and excellent craftsmanship.

How German Smokers Dolls Function?

Early models of German smokers were crafted from a single piece of wood with an exterior tray to hold the incense. The invention of incense cones in the 1700s enabled designers and craftsmen to create a more aesthetically pleasing and functional smoker mechanism where the incense cone was concealed inside the body of the doll. This was accomplished by carving out a space within two pieces of wood that neatly fit together, usually at the waist, to make the smoker’s body. The wooden joints at the waist are supported by metal prongs, with small openings around them for smoother airflow. Once a cone is ignited and placed on a small metal plate inside the doll, the smoke emanates from its mouth and pleasantly infuses the entire atmosphere with the heady fragrances of peach, vanilla, pine, gingerbread, or one of the many scents that are made for Christmas or any time of the year.

German Smoker Incense Cones

Incense cones for German smokers are produced by a careful combination of essential oils and powders that give them their aromatic fragrance. Some of the finest and most fragrant German incense cone collections available in the market today are made by the same producers of handcrafted German smokers, using natural and raw ingredients like pine, vanilla, and sandalwood that are meant to fill the atmosphere with the richest and most authentic scents of nature.

German Smoker Figurines and Characters

German Smoker Figurines

characters that German smokers feature is extremely wide and colorful. Smoker characters like Santa smokers, shepherds, bakers, carpenters, and miners; different versions of the ever-popular Father Christmas smoker with goodies; beer drinkers, gnomes, and musicians; and even quaint mushroom German smokers line row upon row of shop shelves, ready to be admired and snapped up by German smoker enthusiasts and collectors alike.

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