How to Make Toys in Hrvatsko Zagorje Style?

Tourists and religious pilgrims who visit the Marian shrine at Marija Bistrica in the Hrvatsko Zagorje region of Croatia, north of Zagreb, arrive on foot from several pilgrimage routes. Since the 1800s, they’ve been able to buy one-of-a-kind, handmade keepsakes and children’s toys in villages along the pilgrimage routes.

Pilgrims have journeyed to the town of Marija Bistrica since at least the 1600s to worship at a statue of the Black Madonna, a carved figure of the Virgin Mary holding an infant Jesus. From the 1800s, townspeople in the villages along the pilgrims’ paths that lead to the shrine have sold souvenirs to worshipers, in the form of small, handcrafted wooden toys and musical instruments.

The toy making tradition is strongest in the villages of Laz Stubički, Laz Bistrički, Tugonica, Gornja Stubica, Turnišče, and Marija Bistrica.

There were two other centers of handmade toy making in Croatia, but the practice there died off. It remains a vital tradition in Hrvatsko Zagorje thanks largely to the presence of the shrine, which draws as many as 800,000 visitors per year.

The toys are made from soft beech, lime, maple and willow wood that is harvested from surrounding forests. The wood is dried prior to being worked.

In keeping with tradition, carving of the toys is typically done by the men of the villages. They work with hand tools such as carving knives, wood planers and awls or similar tools for creating holes in the wood. Today, woodworkers may use electric saws to hasten the process.

There is no formal training for toymakers. Instead, skills are handed down from generation to generation.

Those created in the form of miniature musical instruments can actually be tuned and played. For many Croatian children, the mini-instruments from Hrvatsko Zagorje are their first introduction to the country’s rich folk music traditions.

The toys are prized not just for their novelty and decoration, but also as an alternative to mass-produced plastic and electronic toys.

Handcrafted wooden toys of the Hrvatsko Zagorje are sold at religious and municipal festivals and fairs, and at handicraft and souvenir shops in Marija Bistrica and surrounding villages.