December 5th Spotlight: Our International Tree

Delicate and dangling, reflections of light. (Click picture to enlarge)

“Thousands of lights were burning on the green branches, and gaily-colored pictures, such as she had seen in the shop-windows, looked down upon her. The little maiden stretched out her hands towards them when--the match went out. The lights of the Christmas tree rose higher and higher, she saw them now as stars in heaven . . .” ~ Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), The Little Match Girl

My brother brought several of these mobile-like ornaments from Germany a couple of years ago. They are intricately die cut of a thin brass and are so light and airy, they move with any small puff of wind and reflect the lights of the tree. This is what we call our "international" tree as it contains ornaments from Poland, Germany, Austria, Norway, and Japan. All the lights are clear or white and sparkling glass stars and teardrops finish off the array of straw, wood, glass, paper and painted egg ornaments. Each time I see these tiny trees I start hearing the refrains of "O Tannenbaum" running through my head.

I tried to find a source of these online and either I am completely off in my Google search or they are not the most common ornaments. A few vendors had the thin cut brass ornaments, but nothing as intricate or complex as these.

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