Number 36 is already in the works: people from Echingen just can't get enough of their cribs

Created: 12/26/2022, 09:00

By: Ulrike Wilms

That's where he feels most comfortable: Franz Wohnaut in his well-equipped carving, carpenter and crib making workshop.

Here the all-rounder is caring for a carved mountain boot.

© Wilms

Franz Wohnaut has always had manual skills.

Numerous cribs were created in connection with the artistic talent of the 75-year-old.

Eching

- In the whole family, which includes his wife Ingeborg, three daughters, nine grandchildren and one great-grandson, Franz Wohnaut has earned a reputation as a multi-talent.

It's no coincidence that the saying "Dad (or grandpa) will fix it" applies to the Wohnauts.

He also likes carpentry, carving and rustic painting, and used to be active in the shooting club, designing many a shooting target.

The many nativity scenes in different sizes are undoubtedly a real eye-catcher - starting with the temporary "house nativity scene" in the living room to various wall nativity scenes, including a stick sponge nativity scene, a lantern nativity scene in the staircase or a small standing nativity scene carved into a birch trunk.

They all come from Franz Wohnaut's in-house joinery.

In 1988 the first crib was made

It was only relatively late, Wohnaut remembers, that this special passion for making cribs developed in him – and it has remained as a seasonal hobby.

In 1988 he spontaneously decided to give his parents-in-law a home-made crib as a present.

This was not only well received by the recipients, but also by the whole family. In view of the successful piece of jewellery, it also aroused the wish among relatives and friends: "I would also like to have a crib like this."

That was over 30 years ago.

Since then, an average of one new crib has been created in the well-equipped basement workshop in twelve months - currently there are 35 unique pieces.

All in all, the now very experienced but still ambitious and adventurous crib builder estimates that it would take around 60 hours for each crib to be completed.

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)

The "Wohnaut" cribs are only given away to family and friends, and any material costs incurred are charged for under "Orders".

In the 1990s he donated, among other things, one of his cribs for the Advent auction in favor of "Brot-für-die-Welt".

Another one went to the Regenbogen day care center where his wife Ingeborg worked as a cook for many years.

Last but not least, in 2018 the evangelical Magdalenenkirche was given one of his self-made unique pieces.

“The Crib Friend” gives him a lot of inspiration

Franz Wohnaut gets one or the other inspiration for his creative hobby from the four times a year publication "Der Krippenfreund" from the association of Bavarian crib friends, of which he is a member.

Only recently, on the occasion of his 25 years of loyalty, he was awarded the silver club pin.

His "favourite style" when it came to cribs was and is the Alpine style, with lots of wood.

And, of course, all the farm equipment and equipment that goes with it is meticulously and lovingly handcrafted: fences, trees, fountains, ladders, saws and the stack of firewood.

How imaginatively Wohnaut goes about his work is shown, for example, by hanging up corn on the cob to dry, for which he has combined millimeter-sized mustard seeds into the typical elongated shape.

The homely and quite nostalgic-idyllic character pleases big and above all small viewers and astonishes many a model builder with its original and lifelike details.

But Wohnaut has also ventured into an oriental lantern crib.

And he has plans for another oriental crib version.

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There is also an oriental variant

The latest model (No. 35) was just standing in front of the mirror in the hallway and meanwhile went to the granddaughter in the Bavarian Forest just in time for Christmas.

A daughter has expressed an interest in the upcoming crèche no. 36: She would like a somewhat smaller crèche that fits in well with the existing furniture.