Items from Switzerland's largest private collection of Christmas decorations to go on show

For the first time ever, items from the largest private collection of Christmas decorations in Switzerland are to go on display to the general public at Burg Zug in the city from tomorrow.
 
All the items, made between 1850 and 1950, have been collected over a 30-year period by Alfred Dünnenberger of Baar, with most of them coming from Germany and Bohemia. While some items of the collection have been exhibited privately on previous occasions, this is the first time a large exhibition of them like this has been open to the public.
 
Naturally, as Burg Zug museum curator Marco Sigg explained, the exhibition is primarily aimed at children and families, though other adults and collectors of such paraphernalia will also find it all quite fascinating. “There are several hundred collectors of such items in Switzerland,” he said, “and there is much interest in them in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, too.”
 
For Dünnenberger as a child, Christmas was the highlight of the year, though he did not start collecting these items seriously until 30 years ago, when he was 38. He recalled the very first item he acquired, a cat of prey made of cardboard which he found on a Christmas tree in a shop in Zurich, and which also features at the exhibition. Over the years there followed thousands of other items, such as old Advent calendars, figures of Santa Claus and folding cribs, not to mention Christmas tree decorations made of paper, porcelain, tin, wood, wax and glass, all beautifully crafted and with so much attention paid to detail. Even a little wood of Christmas trees features at the exhibition. Of course, as can be seen in the main photograph, there is a large German Christmas pyramid. Not included in the photograph but featuring in one of the displays is even a Christmas bauble with a swastika on it.
 
The exhibition, which has been set up under the direction of Christoph Tschanz, has been arranged thematically, though he thought it appropriate not to confuse visitors by providing them with too much detailed information. The items are there simply to be looked at and enjoyed. However, for those who share the magic many find in this sort of thing, Dünnenberger has prepared a very detailed catalogue which features no fewer than 1,400 items, arranged according to the material they are made of.
 
So would he say his collection is now complete?
“Oh no. It could never be complete, but it has become more difficult in recent years to find good additions to it all,” he said.
 
The exhibition at Burg Zug, which, as mentioned, starts tomorrow on Saturday 28 November, continues until the end of January.
 
Further details can be found on www.burgzug.ch and www.duennenberger-baar.ch.