Over two centuries the Steinbach Nutcracker family has been producing fine wood products. Still today, Herr Christian Steinbach heads the family operation carrying on the tradition of fine wood manufacturing with his daughter Karla. Karla Steinbach, who is Vice President of the Steinbach Company, will become the sixth generation to lead the company. Together they are responsible for the fate of the Steinbach Company. Not only oversee product development and quality control at the factory now located in Hohenhameln in the northern region of Germany, but also for the busy shedule of shows and fairs around the world.

    The history of the Steinbach and their industry dates dates back to Erwin V. Steinbach, a famous architect and master builder of the “Muenster” or Dome of Strasbourg in 1284. Originally from Austria! Due to the wars, and the fact that they being Lutheran Protestants they suffered religious persecution around the time of the Reformation, the Steinbach family was forced to relocate several times. The family was not focusing from begin on on wood manufacturing -  Steinbach family covered a wide range of professions like architects, builders, merchants, judges, politicians, and military men. After years went by the family settled around the Erzgebirge, a mountainous mining area which at one time was part of East Germany. This region was rich in mineral resources like gold, silver, tin, cobalt, and uranium. But like it happens in many industries changes are sometimes inevitable - the metal supply dwindled and many families were forced to turn to the trade of wood-working. Wood carvings, used as souvenirs, gifts and for religious purposes became readily accepted by the people in this forest area and furthered the development of the art. Thus a new trade of wood-turning was established during the 15th and 16th century under the rule of Elector August the Strong of Saxony. It became so popular that a decree was published permitting wood-carving to only be performed by native craftsmen and their families.

Among the most known souvenir pieces, which were produced in this area, the typical wood nutcracker conquered step by step the world. Although nutcrackers have been around for many ages, they were not always the collectible items as they are today. In fact, nutcrackers only became popular in the United States about 50 years ago, mostly due to the American Forces which were stationed within Germany. The practice of collecting nutcrackers in the United States began in the early 1950’s. Many of the GI's who were in Germany during World War II visited open air fairs or market, where the woodcarver of the Seiffen and Erzgebirge area sold their goods. The soldiers liked them by the first view and when the soldiers returned home after the war they brought a new friend with them. Strengthened by the nutcracker’s ability to ward off evil from its owners, the soldiers brought a figure of power and protection to their families and loved ones. And so, the nutcrackers with their rich heritage had arrived in the United States, and were here to stay.

The story of the nutcracker did not only enter the world of the art - also the world of music. The legend of the Nutcracker beginning with the novel “The Nutcracker and the King of Mice,” written sometime between 1776 and 1822, by E.T. Amadeus Hoffman. This novel became the basis for Tchaikovsky’s magnificent “Nutcracker Suite”. When in 1892 Tchaikovsky’s ballet, The Nutcracker Suite premiered in St. Petersburg, the popularity of the nutcracker was overwhelming. The ballet became very popular in the United States in the early 1950’s and ignited even more the passion for these fascinating creatures. The magic of the story not only expressed in the ballet style has enchanted the audiences from there on. This amazing sucess of this story increased the popularity of nutcrackers in America, which finally resulted in collecting them. Among the available nutcrackers the Steinbach Nutcrackers have always been enjoyed for their warm expressions, authentic costumes and enigmatic charm. Thus the role of the Steinbach family in contributing to the rising popularity of nutcrackers can not be overemphasized.

The first nutcracker images showed always prominent members of the upper classes like kings or military officers. Some of the woodcarving families like Ulbricht and Steinbach altered this tradition and started to develop different designs and styles. The nutcrackers designs were expanded to depict characters from German folklore and professions. But this was not enough. Steinbach also started with nutcrackers representing characters from different areas of the world. The Steinbach brand got stronger and stronger - not only due to its quality and craftsmanship but also to the variety of designs. But what gave Steinbach finally the breakthrough of the nutcracker as a collectors item - was the introduction of the limited edition nutcracker. The first limited edition nutcracker piece was King Ludwig II, which was limited to 3000 pieces. The idea of a limited nutcracker resulted in an overwhelming response because it contributed not only to the collectability of the nutcrackers - it was also the fact that the limitation will increase their value.

    During this development the reputation of Steinbach personally increased like the sales quantity of his nutcrackers. As a matter of fact he know that he will even push more his sales when signing the pieces or introducing his new pieces personally to his customers. So it was only a question of time when he startet to crossed the Atlantic to visit collector shows. His personality and sincere interest in each and every collector created a very close relationship between Mr. Steinbach and his collectors. This tremendous success expanded while Steinbach introduced a collectors club and more limited editions. The nutcrackers became appreciated by the beauty and quality of the craftmanship.

The Steinbach family has been producing now fine wood products for more than two centuries. Not only that they perfectioned the way to produce a nutcracker - which can involve up to 130 separate procedures - they also offering now a sortiment of over 500 different nutcracker & smoker designs.