Gerd Müller collects nativity scenes that he lends out at Christmas time.
But it has also become more difficult because of Corona.
Now he wants to give it away - and preferably do something good with it.
Schwaig
- Gerd Müller's garage is full. Not because there is a big car there, and not because it just collects garbage there. The 80-year-old stopped driving for health reasons anyway. No: In Müller's garage not far from his apartment in Schwaig, Christmas cribs that he has made entirely are stacked on various shelves and on wooden trestles. "And most of them are way too big," says his wife Gabriele (79) with a smile.
Her husband digs out a comparatively small specimen, points to an owl that he has stuck on the roof and says with a grin: "You see, there is even a little owl on it." Müller is a hobbyist through and through.
It is all the sadder for him that he will hand over his creations.
But it would be even worse if the cribs couldn't find a buyer and they had to be thrown away.
To give away Christmas cribs - Gerd Müller wants to make space
First of all, the curious thing: The Müller's do not set up a crib in the apartment. It is difficult to find the right place there, says Gabriele Müller. “No, we've always looked after others,” says her husband Gerd, a cheerful Rhenish person, with a laugh. And it went like this for years: when he still had a car, Müller delivered his cribs to schools, kindergartens, restaurants and hotels during Advent, but also, for example, to Kaufland, the Pichlmayr senior citizen center, women's refuge or the thermal baths in Erding.
The cribs were set up there for decoration, and after the Christmas season Müller picked them up again.
And not only stored them in a garage, but also in a specially rented storage room in Erding.
There are around 20 pieces in total.
Gerd Müller did not ask for money, very few would have given anything on their own for the loan, he says.
His health is slowly deteriorating and, as mentioned, he no longer drives a car.
And contact with the supplied facilities has become more difficult.
"Some are also withdrawing because of Corona," says his wife Gabriele.
"Corona has ruined everything." At this point, inventor Müller only has a promise that he can bring his crib back over.
Too good to throw away: Senior from Bavaria is giving away his Christmas cribs
“It has to end at some point,” says Gabriele Müller. The lease for the storage room is terminated at the end of the year. Now the couple is hoping that, also through the article in our newspaper, there will be enough facilities that will agree to store the cribs after the Advent season - and to set them up again in the following years. That would be the big wish, in an emergency the Müllers would also leave the cribs to private individuals - gladly, but not necessarily in exchange for a small donation.
If there weren't enough buyers here either, the cribs would have to be scrapped.
“That would hurt, but what good does it do?
If we are no longer there, our children would do the same, ”says Gabriele Müller.
She comes from Aschaffenburg, her husband is a native of the Rhineland.
As a trained carpenter, he used to travel a lot, on one of his trips he met his future wife, who worked there, in a hotel.
The couple has been married for 54 years.
The daughter lives in Oberding, the son in Landshut.
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The crib figures that Gerd Müller makes himself are made of plaster.
His professional experience as an orthopedic mechanic is very helpful to him.
© Markus Schwarzkugler
The Müllers have been living in Schwaig for six years, before that they lived in Notzing for seven years and in Buch am Buchrain for 29 years.
That's where the whole tinkering really started, says Gerd Müller, who got his first crib from his mother.
“I saw a crib in the gas station in Buch.
I thought to myself: The Müller father can do that too, ”he remembers with a smile.
The first crib that he delivered went to the Buch Church.
And so one thing led to another.
Enthusiastic hobbyist gives away his Christmas cribs: "I build everything"
When asked for instructions on how to build a crib, Müller just waves it off.
He also does the same when asked which wood he uses.
“I block everything,” he says with a laugh.
He does the errands for this in the building yard or in the hardware store.
Gerd Müller brings the manual skills with him anyway because of his job.
This doesn't just mean the carpentry job.
Later he changed saddles and became an orthopedic mechanic.
Gerd Müller is a half-brother of the Erdingen orthopedic technician Rainer Graf.
His experience from this job helps Müller with the production of the crib figures, because he also makes them himself. He used to create joints, later the three wise men.
Müller shapes them from plaster of paris with his hands and paints them after they have dried.
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The hobbyist doesn't want to stop.
That is why Gerd Müller now prefers to make small carriages and table or bench frames for decoration instead of large cribs.
© Markus Schwarzkugler
In his retirement, the hobbyist has found plenty of time for his hobby, which really picked up speed around 20 years ago.
“I had to call him in at nine or nine thirty in the evening,” his wife remembers with a smile.
Her husband no longer builds large cribs at her instigation, but the 80-year-old does not want to abandon the handicrafts entirely.
For example, he makes small carriages or table and bench frames for decoration, on which he places figures.
"Ultimately, the whole thing goes to my wallet," says Gerd Müller with a shrug.
Nevertheless, he does not want to ask for anything if he will give his nativity scenes to other hands forever.
Everyone can give something voluntarily if they want to.
There is only one thing that the inventor does not want: That the products from countless loving handicraft hours have to end up on the rubbish dump.
Editor's note: Gerd Müller's cribs have all been distributed.
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