with curator Henry Gawlick
"My Name Is Hansel, I Crunch Nuts—The Story of a Christmas Symbol"
Exhibition dates: November 25, 2026, through February 7, 2027
This new special exhibition focuses on the figures known as nutcrackers.
They enjoyed great popularity from the mid-19th century through the 1990s and were highly sought-after collector’s items.
This was especially true in the GDR, where, although a great deal of folk art was produced, it reached the domestic market only to a limited extent. As a figurine typically modeled after soldiers and distinct from Christian Christmas symbolism, the nutcracker was popular throughout the GDR, including in Mecklenburg.
Henry Gawlick’s private collection from Hagenow, along with numerous items on loan, is being presented to a broad audience in Schwerin for the first time. The exhibition explores when the nutcracker figure first emerged, where the main production centers were located, how it made its way to the north, and whether and where new nutcrackers are still being produced today.
OPENING RECEPTION: Free admission
Registration:info@stiftung-mecklenburg.de
