For several generations now, for many children and adults, the dream of going to the ballet “The Nutcracker” has remained constant. If you listen closely to this word - “Nutcracker” - something very close and dear appears before each of us. This kind and beloved friend came to visit us more than once. But everyone has their own Nutcracker.
Some people remember the wonderful one, but in 2004 another, Russian-German, was released, also based on the fairy tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann and using music from the ballet “The Nutcracker” by P.I. Tchaikovsky.
Lovers feature films could see the New Year's film in 3D format “The Nutcracker and the Rat King”, shot by Andrei Konchalovsky.
Someone remembers and loves this hero simply from the fairy tale of the same name by Ernst Hoffmann. Well, in the end, there are those who were lucky enough to see the ballet “The Nutcracker” live on stage, with which they fell in love with all their hearts after the first viewing. At first they visited it as children with their parents, and now with pleasure, on their own, they come to see “The Nutcracker” over and over again with their children.
This is a fairy tale with magnificent music by the great Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The Nutcracker has become a symbol New Year's holiday not only because the story itself takes place at Christmas, but also because there is a lot of magic, wonderful transformations and mysterious adventures in it. That is why, according to tradition, many theaters add the ballet “The Nutcracker” to their repertoire on New Year’s days.
This tale by Ernest Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann was published in 1816. Its main characters are a girl named Marichen (in different editions the girl is called Clara or Marie) Stahlbaum and a strange toy - nutcrackers in the shape of a soldier, the same legendary Nutcracker that was given to Marichen by her godfather, the storyteller Drosselmeyer. Only he knew that the Nutcracker was not an ugly toy, but a handsome prince who had been bewitched by the evil queen Myshilda.
On Christmas night, fabulous transformations begin, thanks to which the Nutcracker comes to life and enters into battle with mice. In this battle, Marichen’s animated toys also help him. And so happy ending– The Nutcracker Kills Mouse King, thereby dispelling the evil spell. And Marikhen, who fell in love with the ugly toy, sees in front of her a disenchanted prince. He invites her to his country, where he declares Marichen his princess.
The ballet “The Nutcracker” was first shown in St. Petersburg in December 1892, on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater. Staging this fairy tale, told at Christmas, has become traditional on New Year's Eve. This performance is liked by everyone without exception, and both children and adults enjoy it.
The performance "The Nutcracker", shown for the first time in December 1892, immediately won the hearts of the audience. After all, in this production they were busy famous artists. In addition, it was then that the tradition arose of distributing small roles in ballet among students of choreographic schools. This tradition has been preserved to this day, and not only in the Mariinsky Theater. That is why among those who attend the performance there are always friends and parents of young debutants.
We can fully explain the success of this fairy tale. It's not easy fairy tale story. She teaches us selflessness and honor, the ability to stand up for ourselves, to fight injustice and evil, even if it is stronger than you and there will be people on its side magical powers. Without being afraid to lose this battle, boldly rushing into battle - this is the only way we can win. The heroic Nutcracker teaches this to children. This immortal story, told to us by Ernst Amadeus Hoffmann and carefully transferred into the musical dimension by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, reminds adults that not everything in the world can be bought. There are also real, genuine feelings!
The history of the ballet
The libretto for the ballet was created by Marius Petipa based on the fairy tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by Ernst Hoffmann (1816; the libretto was based on the adaptation of the fairy tale made in 1844 by Alexandre Dumas the father), but the Theater Encyclopedia erroneously names Dumas the son as the author of the adaptation.
The ballet premiered on December 6 (18), 1892 at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg on the same evening as the opera Iolanta. The roles of Clara and Fritz were performed by children studying at the St. Petersburg Imperial Theater School, which both graduated only a few years later in 1899. The part of Clara was performed by Stanislava Belinskaya, Fritz by Vasily Stukolkin. Other performers: Nutcracker - S. Legat, Sugar Plum Fairy - A. Del-Era, Prince Whooping Cough - P. Gerdt, Drosselmeyer - T. Stukolkin, Niece Marianna - L. Rubtsova; choreographer L. Ivanov, conductor R. Drigo, designers M. Bocharov and K. Ivanov, costumes - I. Vsevolozhsky and E. Ponomarev.
Characters:
- Stahlbaum
- His wife
- Clara and Fritz are their children
- Drosselmeyer - Clara's godfather
- Grandmother
- Grandfather
- Nutcracker Prince
- Clara the Princess
- Sugar Plum Fairy
- Prince Whooping Cough
- Majordomo
- doll
Some Interesting Facts related to this ballet:
- a total of 57 people work behind the scenes to set up the scenery and change costumes throughout the performance;
- During each performance of the play, 150 different costumes are shown on stage;
- between 600 and 700 lighting fixtures are used to illuminate the performance;
- The Sugar Plum Fairy performer's tutu contains 7 layers of tulle;
- the Christmas tree on stage is 16.4 meters high and weighs 1 ton;
- Dewdrop's costume is decorated with 65 dew crystals;
- the orchestra consists of 62 musicians;
- the “coffee dance” music is based on a Georgian lullaby;
- during the snowflake dance performance, about 20 kg of confetti pours onto the stage;
- the orchestra consists of 62 musicians.
Characters
Silbergaus
Clara (in the modern version - Masha) and Fritz, their children
Drosselmeyer
Nutcracker
Nutcracker Prince
Clara the Princess
Sugar Plum Fairy
Prince Whooping Cough
Majordomo
Mouse King
Act one.
Small German town. There is a holiday in the Silberghaus house. Many guests are invited to the Christmas tree.
Luxuriously decorated, it delights the children of Silbergaus - Clara, Fritz and their little guests. The children frolic, admiring the gifts they received.
Guests appear. The clock strikes midnight. But old man Drosselmeyer, little Clara’s godfather, is not visible among the guests. And here he is! His appearance brings new excitement. The old codger always comes up with something funny. And today he presents children with four large mechanical dolls in the costumes of a sutler, a soldier, Harlequin and Columbine.
Winded up dolls dance.
The children are delighted, but Silbergaus, fearing that the intricate toys will be spoiled, orders them to be taken away for the time being.
This upsets Clara and Fritz.
Wanting to console the children, Drosselmeyer takes out a new funny doll - the Nutcracker - from his suitcase. She knows how to crack nuts. The old man shows the children how to operate the doll.
Mischievous Fritz grabs the Nutcracker and puts the largest nut in his mouth. The Nutcracker's teeth break. Fritz throws the toy. But Clara picks up the mutilated Nutcracker from the floor, ties a scarf around his head and puts him to sleep on the bed of his favorite doll. Guests perform an ancient dance.
The ball is over. Everyone leaves. It's time for the children to go to bed. Little Clara can't sleep. She gets out of bed and approaches the Nutcracker, who remains in the dark hall. But what is it? Many brilliant lights appear from the cracks in the floor. These are the eyes of mice. How scary! There are more and more of them. The room is filled with mice. Clara runs to the Nutcracker for protection.
The rays of the moon fill the hall with their magical light. The tree begins to grow and reaches gigantic sizes. Dolls and toys come to life, bunnies sound the alarm. The sentry at the booth salutes with his gun and shoots, the dolls run around in fear, looking for protection.
A squad of gingerbread soldiers appears. The mouse army is advancing. The mice win and triumphantly devour the trophies - pieces of gingerbread.
The Nutcracker orders the bunnies to sound the alarm again. The lids fly off the boxes containing tin soldiers: here are grenadiers, hussars, and artillerymen with cannons.
The Mouse King orders the army to resume the attack and, seeing failure, enters into single combat with the Nutcracker. Clara takes off her shoe and throws it at the Mouse King. The Nutcracker seriously wounds his enemy, who, along with the mouse army, flees. And suddenly the Nutcracker turns from a freak into a handsome young man. He kneels in front of Clara and invites her to follow him. They approach the tree and hide in its branches.
Act two.
The hall turns into a winter one spruce forest. The snow is falling more and more, a blizzard is rising. The wind blows the dancing snowflakes. A snowdrift is formed from living figures of sparkling snowflakes. Gradually the snowstorm subsides, the winter landscape is illuminated by moonlight.
Konfiturenburg - palace of sweets. The Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince Whooping Cough live in a sugar palace decorated with dolphins, from whose mouths fountains of currant syrup, orchad, lemonade and other sweet drinks flow.
Fairies of melodies, flowers, paintings, fruits, dolls, fairies of the night, fairies of dancers and dreams, fairies of caramel candies appear; Barley sugar, chocolate, cakes, mints, jelly beans, pistachios and biscuits appear. Everyone bows before the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the silver soldiers salute her.
The majordomo arranges little Moors and pages, whose heads are made of pearls, their bodies are made of rubies and emeralds, and their legs are made of pure gold. They hold burning torches in their hands.
In a boat shaped like a gilded shell, Clara and the Nutcracker slowly float down the river. So they came ashore. The silver soldiers salute them, and the little Moors in costumes made of hummingbird feathers grab Clara by the arms and help her enter the palace.
From the rays of the scorching sun, the palace on the pink river begins to gradually melt and finally disappears. The fountains stop flowing.
The Sugar Plum Fairy with Prince Whooping Cough and the princesses, the Nutcracker's sisters, greet the arrivals; the retinue respectfully bows to them, and the majordomo greets the Nutcracker on his safe return. The Nutcracker takes Clara by the hand and tells those around him that he owes his salvation to her alone.
The holiday begins: they dance Chocolate ( spanish dance), Coffee (Arabic dance), Tea (Chinese dance), clowns (buffon dance), lollipops (cream tube dance); Polichinelle dances with Mother Zhigon.
At the end, the Sugar Plum Fairy appears with her retinue and Prince Whooping Cough and takes part in the dancing. Clara and Prince Nutcracker beam with joy.
The apotheosis of the ballet depicts a large hive with flying bees, vigilantly guarding their wealth.
Prologue
On Christmas Eve, medical adviser Stahlbaum gathers guests at his house. The owner himself and his wife with their children, Marie and Franz, warmly welcome those who come to the holiday.
ACT ONE
In a cozy home, everything is ready for the holiday. Children are looking forward to Christmas gifts. The Christmas tree lit up with colorful lights, and adults and children began dancing. Parents give gifts to children. Suddenly a masked stranger appears on the threshold of the living room. He takes it off, and everyone recognizes the good Drrosselmeyer, Marie’s godfather. Drrosselmeyer performs magic tricks and then takes out the Nutcracker and begins to talk about the history of this doll.
The fairy tale is over, everyone applauds Drrosselmeyer. Marie asks to give her the Nutcracker. At this moment, Franz takes the doll away and breaks it. Drrosselmeyer drives away the obnoxious boy, repairs the Nutcracker and gives it to Marie.
The festive evening ends, the last dance is performed - the Grossvater. The guests leave. The Christmas tree goes out. Marie sneaks into the empty living room to take another look at the Nutcracker, who remains under the tree. As the clock strikes, as if by magic, Drosselmeyer appears.
Everything around begins to transform: the Christmas tree grows, and with it the room turns into a huge hall. The nutcracker and toys also grow larger and come to life. Suddenly mice appear in the room, led by the Mouse King. They are opposed by the brave Nutcracker with a small army Christmas decorations. The battle begins: The Nutcracker bravely fights the mouse army, but the forces are not equal. A little more... and the Mouse King will gain the upper hand. Drrosselmeyer hands Marie a burning candle, which she, in despair, throws at the Mouse King. At this time, the Nutcracker managed to free himself. He pierces the Mouse King with his saber, and the remnants of the “gray” army flee in panic to their holes. The enemy is defeated. The spell has broken: Marie sees the handsome Prince in front of her.
Holding hands, Marie and the Prince join the magical round dance of snowflakes and rush through the starry sky to the Prince’s kingdom.
ACT TWO
Marie and the Prince admire starry sky. Drrosselmeyer follows them relentlessly. The magic ball they fly on lands in front of the walls fabulous city. Drrosselmeyer goes to the castle gates and opens them with a magic key, then disappears unnoticed. Marie and the Prince enter the throne room. They are met by the King, Queen and a ceremonial retinue. Residents of the magical city present gifts and organize an extraordinary celebration, at the end of which Marie and the Prince dance.
Epilogue
Suddenly the figure of Drrosselmeyer appears... Everything froze: the castle walls disappear, the living room of the Stahlbaums’ house appears. In the corner of the room is a sleeping Marie with a Nutcracker doll. Waking up, the girl sees Drrosselmeyer. She runs up to him to thank him for the wonderful Christmas story.
E. T. A. Hoffman “The Nutcracker”. Many of us are familiar with this tale from early childhood, others learned about her through cartoons or attending the ballet. One way or another, the story of the prince turned into a toy is known to almost everyone. Let's talk about this work in more detail.
About the product
Hoffmann published the fairy tale “The Nutcracker” in 1816 in the collection “Children's Tales.” When creating the work, the writer was greatly influenced by the children of his friend, who bore the names Marie and Fritz. This is exactly what Hoffmann called his main characters.
"The Nutcracker": summary. The beginning
It is December 25th, the children of Stahlbaum, a medical adviser, Marie and Fritz, are sitting in their bedroom and waiting for gifts that stand under the Christmas tree in the living room. The girl eagerly wants to know what her godfather will come up with for her this year - he made a toy for Marie every Christmas with his own hands. However, the girl understands that her parents' gifts are much better, since they are not taken away immediately after the holiday.
Children find many gifts under the tree. Among other things, Marie notices a toy designed for cracking nuts, which was made in the form of a smartly dressed man. At this moment we meet the main character of the fairy tale “The Nutcracker”. The summary, unfortunately, cannot convey the girl’s joy at the sight of this toy. Marie took him under her wing and allowed him to crack only the smallest nuts. However, Fritz deliberately selected the largest and hardest ones, which led to damage to the toy. Then the girl hid the Nutcracker from Fritz and carried it with her all the time.
The Mouse King Appears
We continue to describe summary"The Nutcracker". One evening Marie plays with dolls for too long. Her brother goes to bed, the girl remains alone in the room. When the clock strikes midnight, a muffled rustling begins in the living room, and mice appear from everywhere. A huge seven-headed mouse wearing crowns emerges from under the floor - the Mouse King. Marie presses herself against the wall in fear. The mouse army begins to attack her.
Marie breaks the closet door, scaring the rodents. But the broken cabinet immediately begins to glow. The toys come to life. The Nutcracker gathers an army and leads it into battle with the mice.
The battle begins. At first, the army of toys moves forward successfully. But gradually the mice begin to win. The toys suffer heavy losses, and their generals retreat. The Nutcracker ends up in the clutches of the enemy. The Mouse King rushes at him, but Marie, wanting to save her favorite toy, throws her shoe right at the leader of the rodents.
After this, the girl loses consciousness.
Fairy tale
The work “The Nutcracker” tells the story of a little girl (a summary is presented in this article).
So Marie regains consciousness in her bed. Next to her is Dr. Wendelstern. A mother appears and scolds the girl for her self-will. Marie learns that she was found covered in blood among scattered toys, and she was clutching a Nutcracker in her hand. The adults, having heard the girl’s story about what happened at night, thought that she had imagined everything.
Marie spends several days in bed. The godfather comes to the girl and brings the “cured” Nutcracker. He asks Marie to forget about the mice and tell a story.
“The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” has an interesting structure. Essentially, this is a fairy tale within a fairy tale. This technique is typical only for literary work and is impossible in folk art.
The story of the little princess Pirlipat begins. A holiday was being prepared in the kingdom, but the mice climbed into the pantries and ate the lard for the sausages. The court watchmaker Drosselmeyer set mousetraps in which many rodents died. Then Myshilda, the mouse queen, turned the princess into an ugly creature. Then the court astrologer calculated that only the Krakatuk nut, which could be cracked by only one young man, could restore the beauty of Pirlipat.
Drosselmeyer and the astrologer soon found the nut. But not a single prince managed to gnaw it. Then Drosselmeyer's nephew took up the matter. The young man helped the princess regain her beauty, but Myshilda prevented the completion of the ceremony. The old mouse died, but turned the young man into the Nutcracker. The astrologer predicted that the young man's curse would end the moment he fell in love beautiful girl, and he will defeat the Mouse King.
Marie's torment
Marie believes that this story really happened. Now she understands why the Nutcracker and the Mouse King had to fight. The Mouse King comes to the girl and begins to blackmail her, demanding sugar dolls and marzipan. Then Fritz invites his sister to borrow the baker’s cat for a while, and his father asks him to simply set up mousetraps.
The Mouse King torments Marie again. He asks her to give him a beautiful Christmas dress and a picture book. Then the girl complains to the Nutcracker - soon she will have nothing left, and then she will have to give herself up. After this, the toy comes to life and asks him not to worry about anything and get a saber for him. The next night, the Nutcracker challenges the Mouse King to a fight, wins and brings Marie his seven crowns.
Denouement
The fairy tale “The Nutcracker” is coming to an end. Main character in the guise of a doll, he leads Marie to the wardrobe, from where they fall into magical land. The Nutcracker takes the girl to the Pink Lake and introduces her to her beautiful sisters, whom she helps pound golden nuts in a mortar.
Marie wakes up and her parents laugh at her bizarre dreams. One day, while talking with her godfather, the girl admits that she would never have abandoned the Nutcracker because of her ugliness. After these words, a crash is heard. In fright, the girl falls from her chair. The curse is broken. A beautiful young man appears in front of Marie, who proposes to her, and a year later they leave for the Doll Kingdom.
The heroine of the fairy tale “The Nutcracker”
Marie is a little girl who is full of compassion, kindness, determination and courage. She is the only one who manages to unravel the true essence of the Nutcracker. That is why Marie takes the toy under her protection. Sincere feelings the girls save the main character.
The Nutcracker ballet is a real symbol of the New Year and Christmas, just like the Christmas tree and gifts.
Did you know that he turned 120 years old this year!
And this fairy tale, according to a long-standing tradition on New Year's Eve, is present in the repertoire of various leading theaters in the world.
Imagine how many generations of children have already watched it!
From generation to generation, parents take their children to this ballet during the winter holidays.
For me, this ballet is a real childhood memory.
And when should one relapse into childhood, if not on New Year’s Eve?
Are we falling?))))
May knowledgeable balletomanes forgive me, but I don’t want to systematize the information and adhere to boundaries and canons.
I decided to put photos from the performances in a variety of editions, since I was preparing a post for the little princess just to please her.
So let's just plunge into the fairy tale!
Brief summary of the ballet "The Nutcracker".
Ballet in two acts;
libretto by M. Petipa based on the fairy tale by E.T.A. Hoffman.
music - P.I. Tchaikovsky
First production:
Saint Petersburg, Mariinskii Opera House, 1892.
Act one
Christmas is approaching. Invisible to respectable townspeople, Fairies wish everyone happiness and love.
At Mr. Stahlbaum's house they are preparing for the holiday. The kids receive long-awaited gifts. They are delighted with the green miracle, decorated with candles, toys and sweets.
Suddenly a man in a strange outfit appears in the living room, frightening children and adults.
This is the eccentric Drosselmeyer, a puppet master - the godfather of Marie and Fritz, the Stahlbaum children. As always, he prepared surprises. This time they were fancy puppets - a Clown, a Ballerina and a Moor. But Marie doesn't want to play. kind girl I was offended by my godfather for scaring everyone. The distressed Drosselmeyer takes out another toy - a clumsy, ugly, but good-natured Nutcracker. Children don't like a freak. Only Marie carefully hugs the toy to herself.
The mischievous Fritz takes the funny little man from his sister and... breaks him. Drosselmeyer calms the inconsolable girl, repairs the Nutcracker and returns it to Marie.
Meanwhile, the holiday is in full swing. Drunk adults in carnival masks become like scary monsters, and the respectable Grossfather dance turns into something threatening and full of danger. Or maybe it just seems so to Marie? At midnight the guests leave. Lulled good fairies, Marie falls asleep, clutching the Nutcracker...
Whether in a dream or in reality, the girl suddenly finds herself surrounded by a horde of gray mice.
And among them flash those very terrible Carnival masks that frightened Marie so much at the holiday. And what is most surprising is that this entire army seems to be led by godfather Drosselmeyer. But a miracle happened: the wooden Nutcracker suddenly came to life. In front of the amazed Marie, he began to gather an army from tin soldiers and gingerbread horses to protect her.
The battle broke out, but the forces were not equal. Enraged monsters surrounded the Nutcracker more and more closely. Having overcome her fear, Marie threw off her shoe and threw it with all her might into the very thick of the enemy horde. At that same moment everything disappeared, and Marie fell unconscious.
Having come to her senses, she saw Drosselmeyer, but no longer an eccentric old man, but a wonderful wizard (after all, there is a wizard hidden in every true master artist). The godfather called to the world of eternal joy and beauty.
True, to get there, you need to go through a snow blizzard and other tests.
Hand in hand, Marie and the Nutcracker set off.
Act two
In the city of Confiturnburg everything is ready to receive guests. The Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince Orshad, surrounded by elegant sweets and friendly dolls, meet Marie and the Nutcracker. Having solemnly dedicated Marie to the Princess (and only a very kind and very brave girl can become a Princess here), they open the ball.
The courtiers perform "delicious" dances for Marie: Spanish - "Chocolate", Arabic - "Coffee", Chinese - "Tea", Russian - "Gingerbread", French - "Pastila".
And finally, the lords of the kingdom of sweets themselves dance - the Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince Orshad.
Godfather Drosselmeyer returns Marie from a magical journey.
But the girl will never forget a wonderful fairy tale, in which goodness and beauty reign.
The Nutcracker ballet performed by the American ballet Brandywine Ballet.
The ballet "The Nutcracker" performed by the English Royal Ballet.
Choreography: Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov.
Soloists: Steven McRae and Roberta Marquez.
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann knew how to be a magician!
He composed the story about the Nutcracker while playing with the children of his friend Hitztg - Marie and Friedrich.
They became the prototypes young heroes“The Nutcracker” - children of medical adviser Stahlbaum.
The reader gets acquainted with them by opening the first page of Hoffmann's tale.
The first production of the ballet "The Nutcracker" by P.I. Tchaikovsky took place in 1892 on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater.
Marius Petipa, who was planning to compose a ballet, fell ill, and the production was entrusted to the theater's second choreographer, Lev Ivanov.
The ballet was considered unsuccessful; it was not preserved (with the exception of some dances). And the music turned out to be difficult to stage.
Subsequently, the largest Russian choreographers of the twentieth century tried, each in their own way, to combine the libretto and their own understanding of music, to give the ballet a more mystical character, characteristic of Hoffmann’s fairy tale.
Petipa mistakenly named the girl Clara - this is the name her doll actually bears in the fairy tale.
In Russia, the heroine was given back the name given to her by Hoffmann: Marie, or Masha, but in the West she continues to move from play to play under the name of her doll.
Every year on stage Bolshoi Theater the magic that gives us the performance “The Nutcracker” happens.
A sweet children's fairy tale has turned into a stage action full of mystery, mysticism and magic, the struggle of complex and deep human feelings.
These crowd scenes I really liked it - a real winter fairy tale!
Legendary ballet performance George Balanchine's "The Nutcracker" performed by the New York City Ballet.
Magical music by Tchaikovsky, incredible costumes, a real spruce tree that grows during the performance, and, of course, the world-famous story about the girl Marie and the wooden prince, who together defeated the Mouse King.
The production features more than 70 ballet dancers accompanied by a live New York City Ballet orchestra.
The children's roles are performed by 50 young dancers from the School of American Ballet, an official division of the City of New York Ballet.
And these are photographs of the performance by Cheryl Cencich \ Port Huron, MI - United States \
In my opinion, it turned out to be a very beautiful fairy tale!
After all, whatever the productions, Hoffmann’s ageless tale, magical music Tchaikovsky, winter fairy-tale scenery - all this makes “The Nutcracker” an immortal classic.
The fairy tale captivates hearts into a fairyland, and the ballet remains in the memories of little spectators as a wonderful symbol of the New Year holidays.
But these are Santa Claus and Snow Maiden - Nutcrackers.
For a smile!)))
Hoffmann in his fairy tale talks about the appearance of the Nutcracker with great tenderness.
Probably because he looks at him through the eyes of dear Marie.
And here is the Dictionary German language", compiled by the Brothers Grimm in the mid-19th century, describes the Nutcracker (Nussknacker) differently: "most often takes the form of an ugly little man into whose mouth a nut is inserted and pricked with the help of a special lever."
The “parents” of ordinary figurines for cracking nuts were craftsmen who lived in Sonneberg, in the Ore Mountains region (Germany).
Quite quickly, wooden nutcrackers ceased to be used for their intended purpose.
They began to make them so cute that from the second half of the 19th century they became a Christmas decoration for the interior.
And finally, a small gift - you can imagine yourself in the fairy tale “The Nutcracker” and try to bring the toys to life.
Hint - first you poke the mice at the picture and you end up right under the tree, and then you have to poke the mice at the mouse - right on its belly.
Very important - in the very, very center. Otherwise it won't start!)))