Seiffener Volkskunst Show Workshop
Schauwerkstatt Seiffener Volkskunst eG50°39′ N 13°27′ E
The show workshop suits a visitor who wants to see Erzgebirge figures made and then paint one, with 30 seats in its craft room and around 200 kits to choose from. Plan it for a weekday, because the benches stand idle on Saturday and Sunday.
Seiffen craftspeople founded the cooperative in 1958 and started production the next year. After a fire, a new workshop building went up on the site in 1997, and it runs as an open workshop where you follow a figure from raw wood to the last brushstroke. Guided tours take about 20 minutes on weekdays between 10:00 and 15:00. A group pays €30, €60 or €90 depending on its size, up to 30 people.
In the craft room you can make your own smoking man or a lit Seiffen candle arch, and children from about 3 join in with a parent's help. You pay for the kit you choose, and reserving a seat costs €5, which comes off the kit price. Reservations open only up to two days ahead, and walk-ins take whatever seats are free. Allow an hour to an hour and a half. The craft room is indoors, so it works on a wet day.
Worth knowing
- Reserve a craft seat online up to two days ahead in Advent, when walk-in seats can run out.
Quick answers about Seiffener Volkskunst Show Workshop
Can you make your own nutcracker in Seiffen?
Yes. The craft room at the Seiffener Volkskunst show workshop on Bahnhofstraße offers around 200 kits, including smoking men, nutcrackers and lit candle arches. You pay for the kit, and a reserved seat costs €5 that comes off the price.
When can you watch the woodworkers at the Seiffen Schauwerkstatt?
Craftspeople work from Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 16:00. At weekends you can still walk through the workshop, but the machines are at rest.