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MAX KRUG CLOCKS
Go a little Souvenir Shopping Cuckoo in Munich

The cuckoo clock, that noisy but endlessly fascinating form of time piece characterized by hand-carved wood forest motifs of deer, birds, leaves and pine cones in amazingly ornate patterns around a door from which the tiny cuckoo bird emerges to tweet an hourly alarm, was an invention of Black Forest craftsmen who in days of old would tot their wares around on their backs. The small bird mechanism was regional smaller version of the German Glockenspiel, the mechanical clock with figures that twirl and move at appointed time. One of the most famous glockenspiels still operating in Germany is the one in the tour of Munich Town Hall (Neu Rathaus) in the city’s main old town square the Marienplatz (see Walking Munich). Should the wonder of the woodland version strike your fancy, or passion, and your travel plans won’t allow for a trip to the Cuckoo Clock Museum in Triberg www.uhren-park.de, you need not go to the Black Forest to find a Cuckoo to fall in love with and take home.

The Max Krug Company has been making cuckoo clocks in the Black Forest since the 1920’s. Their store, distinctive in its Bavarian blue and gold awning. located on the main pedestrian street halfway between the Marienplatz and the Karlstor Gate in central altstadt Munchen (next to Michaelskirche) is a tiny wonderland of the tick-tocking, chiming and chirping wood clocks from the land of “coo coo”. While meant for the public consumer and not museum pieces, Max Krug’s cuckoo clocks are hand made from rich woods produced in the Black Forest with quality modern movements. The clocks come with two kinds of movements, those with just a Cuckoo which calls the full hour and once on the half hour, or a musical version which plays alternating tunes after the bird does his thing. They come in with movements that have to be wound every day by pulling the winding chain and versions that will last for a week between windings. They range in size from about 14 inches tall to over 3 feet tall, and a range of prices. The clocks follow set design patterns, but the hand-carving makes for no clock being exactly the same and all come with night-time shut off for the sound mechanisim.

The store will ship the clocks worldwide so you needn’t worry about packing it in a suitcase. If shipped out of the country they can be purchased vat tax free, but import duty may apply depending on the country. You can also order Max Krug Cuckoo clocks online. While their specialty is clocks, the Max Krug store also sells souvenir beer steins (also called krug), but if you don't find a stein you like there, the store of Herrmann Geschenke is just next door on Neuhauserstr with 400 stein varieties along with other gift souvenirs and memorabilia. © Bargain Travel Europe

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Max Krug
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See Also:

PLATZL HOTEL MUNICH

MUNICH WALKING TOURS
Hitler’s Bavaria

MUNICH AIRPORT
What to Do with a Lay-Over

BMW MUSEUM & WORLD
Car History, Entertainment and Factory Tour in Munich

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