each day and present a puppet show. On Fridays, Father Christmas himself visits. Wooden ornaments Many of the stands at the Striezelmarkt sell carved wooden ornaments of a huge variety of shapes and sizes. This practice dates to the period of the area's mining history. Dresden is the largest city near the Erzgebirge, or Ore Mountains, where silver and tin were discovered in around 1168. The discovery brought many miners to the area, but they lost their jobs as a result of the German Peasants' War and competition from abroad. Needing a new way to earn money, the miners took up woodcarving, incorporating mining symbols and religious elements into their designs. These symbols can still be found in the Christmas ornaments sold at the Striezelmarkt. Candle pyramids (Christmas pyramid) In many parts of Germany, the candle pyramid (lightstock) is brought out every year to light up the room at Christmas. Two to five round wooden tiers, gradually smaller towards the top, are built onto a central rod. The tiers rotate, driven by the heat of candles rising up into a rotor at the top. On each tier there are figures connected with Christmas. The whole ornament is usually about high. The tallest pyramid in the world dominates the Striezelmarkt, towering a full in the air. Originally, the pyramid was a much simpler affair, simply a frame to hang sprigs of fir upon. The modern-day pyramid was not developed until the early 19th century. Schwibbogen Literally, the word Schwibbogen means an arch "hanging" (schweben) above you, between two walls. This candle-holder is arch-shaped, representing the arched entrance to a mine hung with guiding lights; it is another connection to the area's mining past. Today the "candles" are often lit with electricity. The scenes cut from the wooden centre of the arch are not only on mining themes. At night during Advent, nearly every single window in Dresden is lit with these ornaments, traditionally bought at the Striezelmarkt. Räuchermann (smoking man) Another ornament always present at Christmas-time in Germany, the smoking man is hollowed out with a hole leading to his mouth, hung with a pipe. An incense candle is placed inside him so that he appears to smoke as it burns. Variations on the smoking man include old ladies in rocking chairs, Father Christmases, and figures representing nearly every occupation. Smoking men first appeared in the Striezelmarkt in the 19th century.