Nutcrackers have been around since the 16th century and were made-and are still made to resemble to look like famous personalities such as legends, saints, royalty, artists, and the most famous of all, the prince in a red tunic.



The classic, traditional, and popular design where a particular Nutcracker is painted or outfitted in a red tunic is very much inspired by the Story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffman. Ernst Theodor Hoffman (E.T.A, A which stands for Amadeus) was an all around classical artist, who was a music composer and critic, a sketcher and caricaturist, and most of all, a literary author. E.T.A. Hoffman was a key contributor the Romantic Movement which took place years during his lifetime in the late 1700s to the early 1800s. The Romantic Movement, also known as Romanticism, gave way to social awareness and political ideals, and can also be considered as a social contributor to the French Revolution since Romanticism, despite its harmless and enticing term, actually tackles several social issues that was happening during that period and such issue include the questionable influence and rule of aristocracy and their political point of view.

Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffman's creation of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King have been adapted to several versions and themes such as dance, ballet, plays, and animations. Although the character heroine in E.T.A. Hoffman's story is named Marie Stahlburn, some popular and well-known adaptations have named the lead heroine as Clara. Either way, the two are just the same person just named differently.

One very popular and very successful adaptation of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King was its ballet version by Russian composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, which not only became very popular in his home country of Russia, but all around the world.

To the later and new generation of kids that were born on the mid 1900s all the way to the present time, most of us have known and heard the story of the Nutcracker as the Nutcracker Prince. The story is mostly written in story books but one very memorable adaptation of this story was from the animated film The Nutcracker Prince in 1990, because the story had a lot more compelling twists and revelations compared to its original counterpart.

Keeping up with the tradition of making Nutcracker figurines, Steinbach Nutcrackers offers huge selections of different nutcracker figurines ranging from categories such as artists, legends, animation and film characters, and more.

As The Nutcracker and the Mouse King originated in Germany, and was made by a German, Steinbach Nutcrackers and Retired Steinbach Nutcrackers are also made in Germany, by a German, particularly in Marienberg and Lower Saxony. Steinbach Nutcrackers founder Christian Steinbach wants to give a message that Nutcrackers are not only functional tools for just cracking nuts, but also as a decorative and commemorative item that provides color in people's homes. Christian Steinbach also wants everybody to come visit his nutcracker factories anytime at anyone's convenience.

Most Steinbach Nutcrackers crack nuts on the figurine's head, compared to other novelty nutcracker dolls/figurines which crack nuts in between the figurine's legs.