Like many other collectors, my passion for Christmas tree decorations began with glass and cotton wool objects. At some point I read an article about Christmas tree decorations made of cardboard. In collector circles these ornaments are known as Dresdner Pappe. In the English-speaking world they are called 'Dresdens' or 'Dresden ornaments'. I was quickly fascinated by this particular type of Christmas ornament, which was finely detailed and embossed by the manufacturers. As a historian who is always looking for the beginning of a story, I researched the origins of Dresden ornaments in books and on the web. I wanted to learn more about the production method and the producers. To my astonishment, I found that little is known about the history of Dresden ornaments. To satisfy my own curiosity, I began my research among collector friends and dealers. This led me to archives and museum libraries. In the process, I realised that what we collect as Dresden ornaments is a colourful hodgepodge, consisting of Attrappen, bonbonnieres, Christmas tree decorations and items for cotillon-tours that were very popular at the time. I will try to go into a little more detail about all of these on this website.

What I have discovered so far, I would like to make available on these pages to all other inquisitive people, in the hope that we can all pool our knowledge and learn more and more about the history of Dresden ornaments.

The time frame in which Dresden cardboard was produced can be roughly narrowed down. Presumably, the first such pieces were produced in Dresden by Carl Wenzel before 1870. The actual heyday of Dresden cardboard began around 1870 and had its peak between 1880 and 1900. Its end was heralded by the beginning of the First World War in 1914.

It was to be decades before Dresden cardboard objects became known again in collector circles. One of the triggers for this was the standard work Christbaumschmuck. Ein Buch für Sammler und Liebhaber alter Dinge published by Eva Stille in 1979. (The work is a substantially expanded and redesigned new edition of the book Alter Christbaumschmuck published by Eva Stille in 1972). In the chapter ‚Papier und Karton‘, she reports of Christmas tree decorations made of cardboard. Stille's book was published at a time when the Iron Curtain still divided Germany into East and West. At that time only very few West German collectors were aware that this special cardboard Christmas tree decoration had ever existed. However, this was just as true for the city of Dresden. Even in the city of its origin, Dresden ornaments had fallen into oblivion.

This is not surprising when you consider two factors. Firstly, even back then Dresden ornaments were not widely used as Christmas tree decorations. One must come to this conclusion when looking at the still numerous existing photos of historical Christmas trees. On these, one can primarily find a wide variety of glass balls, tinsel, and occasional cotton wool figures. Dresden ornaments can only be found very occasionally, even though this special form of Christmas tree decoration was advertised by the producers of the time as a low-cost variant. As an example, I would like to show a studio photograph from 1907 in which at least twelve Dresden ornaments can be seen.