Woodturning and turning, carving and grinding are in his blood: Wolfgang Werner comes from a long-established Seiffen family of toy makers. Historical models serve as inspiration for his mechanical wooden toys, the construction of which reveals that Werner originally had his sights set on a career in engineering. Now, however, he has become an experienced toy maker, under whose hands - and those of his employees - these perfectly balanced swing figures are created. Only local woods - such as beech, maple, birch and spruce - are carefully turned, sanded and finally painted by hand. From now on, they are ready to fulfill their purpose decoratively from every conceivable (furniture) edge and to spread a lively Christmas mood.

The fact that a famous wood art developed in the originally densely forested Erzgebirge is not only explained by the availability of the material. As a branch of industry, handicrafts became all the more important as the local mining industry rapidly lost resources and profitability. Folk art slipped into this gap, which mining - no less than Christmas - still shaped with numerous motifs. A center of wood art emerged around Seiffen, where one of the first specialized trade schools was founded in 1853 to promote handicrafts. In the so-called Toy Corner, small and large craft businesses still produce the classics of the folk art of the Erzgebirge: from hoop animals and smoking men to miner figures and nutcrackers to candle arches and wing pyramids.