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Erzgebirge Schwibbogen or lighted candle arches

The German Erzgebirge Schwibbogen (also light arch or candle arch) is one of the oldest and most traditional items from the Erzgebirge. The roots go back to a Schwibbogen that was crafted in 1726 made of iron. The name Schwibbogen originates from the German word Schwebebogen that means floating arch. The Schwebebogen was a gothic architectural design element. Many old German cities like Passau or Regensburg still have those typical medieval arches.

The tradition of candle arches goes back to the Erzgebirge miners of the 18th century. The miners used to hang their pit lamps on the pit entry hole every last shift before Christmas. The early light arches expressed the longing for light that the miners did not see during their workdays. All early Schwibbogen that have been found had a different number of lights but they all had an odd number of lights. As a consequence there was always one light in the middle of the candle arch. Until the 20th century most Schwibbogen were made with iron. Then wood became the most popular material for an Erzgebirge light arch.

The German light arches have gained popularity by a trade fair in the Erzgebirge region (in 1937). When the city mayors decided that the typical Erzgebirge candle arches should be the trade fair logo they ordered the craftsmen to build large oversized Schwibbogen and placed them in the center of the towns so every visitor could see them. The Schwibbogen quickly became popular in many regions in Germany and not much later all over the world. During Christmas time many Erzgebirge towns still today set up an oversized candle arch.

Today the light arches display religious scenes (nativity scenes, carollers, churches), scenes from nature (forest, animals) or local scenes from the region of Seiffen (Christmas fair, Seiffen church, Erzgebirge towns) . The famous Dresden Frauenkirche (church of our lady) which was destroyed during WWI is also a very popular motif. The light arches are either illuminated by regular candles of electricity.