| The Black Forest ("Der Schwarzwald") in | | | | appears out of a door and returns behind the door |
| southwestern Germany is the home of the Cuckoo | | | | when the gong or other sound stops. Some clocks |
| Clock (Kuckucksuhr), invented in the region in the | | | | may have other animals, trains or people that appear |
| 17th century. The long, harsh winters in the | | | | to mark the time. |
| Schwarzwald during that time meant people spent | | | | Making Cuckoo Clocks became such a popular |
| long hours inside their homes, when they needed | | | | industry that craftsmen would try to outdo each |
| both something to do to pass the time and an | | | | other by creating a more beautiful and elaborate |
| additional source of income to supplement their work | | | | clock than their neighbor. Not only the mechanisms of |
| in the local mines. The largely forested area | | | | the clocks became more sophisticated, moving from |
| surrounding them inspired them to begin making | | | | wood to metal, but also the decorations, which |
| wooden crafts. Among the products they created | | | | progressed from watercolor paints and square faces |
| were nutcrackers ("Nussknackers"), incense burners | | | | to elaborately carved faces painted in rich, bold |
| ("Smoking Men" or Räuchermänner), and clocks | | | | colors. |
| that mimicked the cry of the cuckoo bird. | | | | Making Cuckoo Clocks was a cottage industry for |
| The first version of the famous clock as we know it | | | | many years, but with the move to industrialization |
| today was produced around 1738 by Franz Anton | | | | across much of the world in the late 1800s, factories |
| Ketterer, from the village of Schönwald near | | | | began production of the clocks. However, the families |
| Triberg. It is thought that he was inspired by both | | | | who traditionally made Cuckoo Clocks were still going |
| the cry of a rooster and other clocks decorated with | | | | strong. They were so skilled and devoted so much |
| scenes of farm life, but found the sound of the | | | | attention to their craft that individual family members |
| cuckoo bird easier to produce than the rooster's | | | | had developed their talents to specialize in certain |
| crow. | | | | parts of the Cuckoo Clock's production. Some would |
| Germany already had a long history of fine | | | | assemble the gears, while others might paint the |
| clock-making before the Cuckoo Clock came on the | | | | faces. That is why clocks made in the old-fashioned |
| scene. Artisans had been making ornate clocks | | | | way today are so beautiful and elaborate. |
| entirely by hand, including all the gears and moving | | | | Making Cuckoo Clocks is still an important part of the |
| parts inside as well as the casing and decorations. | | | | Schwarzwald's industry today. Although factories |
| The first Cuckoo Clock and those following in the | | | | generally produce the gears and other metal parts, |
| early years of production were also made entirely by | | | | the outside of the clocks are still hand-carved and |
| hand. | | | | decorated just as they were over 200 years ago. |
| Later, the use of metal parts and the incorporation | | | | Common themes of Cuckoo Clocks include hunting, |
| of the pendulum provided more accurate | | | | family life and the military, but there are many clocks |
| timekeeping. A pendulum clock has a weight at the | | | | produced today with any kind of theme you can |
| end that, once swinging, swings back and forth at | | | | imagine. Both clocks with traditional and whimsical |
| the same rate all the time and moves the gears | | | | themes can be found on on the internet and many |
| continuously. Little weights hanging from under the | | | | fine examples of "Kuckucksuhren" and other |
| clock, often in the shape of pinecones on a Cuckoo | | | | handmade German folk art. |
| Clock, are pulled on a regular basis to continue the | | | | Although other beautiful clocks are produced in the |
| pendulum's swing and keep accurate time. The | | | | Black Forest area of Germany, Cuckoo Clocks are |
| mechanism that makes the clock go "coo-coo" is still | | | | certainly the most well-known and most popular. At |
| used today: bellows that push air through small pipes, | | | | first developed as a more accurate way to keep |
| similar to how a pipe organ works. | | | | time, they became works of art that people all over |
| On most Cuckoo Clocks, when the movement on | | | | the world want to have as part of their collections. |
| the inside strikes to mark the hour, a cuckoo bird | | | | |