posted 12-19-2023 09:43 AM               

Wilhelm, the first nutcracker in space has returned to his maker, wooden toy maker Markus Füchtner in Seiffen, in time for Christmas.

Wilhelm travelled with astronaut Matthias Maurer and spent about a year in space, circling Earth 5,573 times on board the International Space Station.

Astronaut Maurer was only allowed to take 0.5 kg of personal luggage with him, and Wilhelm was part of it.

The Nutcracker had flown in a transport rocket, and Maurer followed a little later.

As for the nutcracker's origins, Wilhelm is not just any wooden nutcracker: in 1870 Markus Füchtner's great-great-great-grandfather is said to have made the first "Erzgebirge" nutcracker.

Today, wooden ornaments from the Ore Mountains are known all over Germany.