Unusual Crafts From the GDR & DDR

US ZONE Antique Christmas Ornaments

Antique Christmas ornaments are a popular search item around Christmas. I think a lot of people have fun looking for old items that represent Christmas in past times and/or from their childhood.

I found these two antique Christmas Ornaments for sale as a “Buy it Now” on Ebay and decided they were worth the $15 plus $5 for shipping. This was the item description:

“Vintage German wooden ornaments.

Marked US Zone Germany.

Little angels with Christmas trees.

Red gown angels with tree measures 3 5/8 inches x 5/8 inch x 2 3/8 inches tall/high.

Blue gown angels with tree measures 4 3/4 inches x 5/8 inch x 2 3/4 inches tall/high.

Very fine golden thread on each is the hanger for your tree.

NO damage or repairs.”

I can use them in two places. On this DDR Times website I can talk about their history, why they are rare and point to them as an example of German handwerk in difficult times. On my Antique Christmas site they will make a good example of the old fashioned German Christmas experience.

US ZONE marks on the bottom of tiny handcrafted pieces German folk art are quite rare. They were only applied to item made for a very limited period of time after the end of World War Two. Time were extremely difficult and raw materials would have been extremely hard to come by. Food would have been the first priority and I understand many, if not most, of the trees in cities had been cut down for fuel.

In other words, these items are not especially impressive from the quality of the workmanship, but illustrate the determination of people to get back on their feet and earn a living. I’ll have pictures of this item as soon as it arrives from the seller.