And it's fair to say that they are ambassadors of our region and our products." Christmas wouldn't be Christmas in the Erzgebirge without the arched candle holders Image: Hardy Graupner/DW Ongoing debate over originīut where did they really come from, and since when have they been in the region? Tom Pote, a hobby woodcarver from Johanngeorgenstadt, who takes a keen interest in the history of his town, has one hypothesis. "Arched candle holders characterize the image of the Erzgebirge region like none of our other products," the head of the regional Association of Artisans and Toymakers, Frederic Günther, tells DW. Arched candle holders come in many different shapes and sizes Image: Hardy Graupner/DW A deep-rooted traditionĪlthough the number of tourists here has gone down drastically as the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit the hospitality sector, Germans' passion for arched candle holders remains unchanged.įor nearly everyone in the Erzgebirge region and for many beyond it, they are a must-have Christmas decoration that is usually placed on a windowsill at home - to the delight of passers-by. "It makes you feel so small if you stand right next to it," she says. "But every time I come it seems to me the candle holder has become even taller." His friend agrees. "I've been here before," says one of the visitors. The huge arch holds a set of big electric candles which light up various mining-related figures placed within the arch. After all, the structure is 25 meters (82 feet) wide and 14.5 meters tall. The tourists gathering around it on this frosty December day seem truly impressed. And just to remind everyone of that, Johanngeorgenstadt is home to the biggest such candle holder in the world. A stone's throw away from the Czech Republic, it is a small winter sports resort, but above all it prides itself on being the place where the Erzgebirge's arched candle holders - known in German as Schwibbogen - originated from. There's not much else this town is known for. It's in the middle of the day, but it's easy to imagine that when night sets in and the electric candles on the structure are lit, they will cover the square in a warm and cosy light. A group of tourists to Johanngeorgenstadt in Saxony, Germany, are taking pictures of a huge decorative structure in the town center, zooming in on the various elaborate figures depicted under a big metal arch.
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